Misfire
by glitteryv0dka
Summary: The Joker was gone. And better yet, Harley seemed happy for it. She was so much better without him, I want to make sure she knows that. Part One of the "Truth Be Told" series.
1. Pretty Little Psycho

**A/N: This is my first Suicide Squad fanfiction but I like the idea of Floyd and Harley ter ogether. He is so much more respectful and protective of her than the Joker.**

My cell seemed smaller when we finally got back to it. The punching bag in the corner was more beat up than I remembered. I ain't touched it in days, though. Every time I hit it, I could only think of how much more satisfying it would be to hit one of those alien freak shows again. Or something alive. I'd like to think I was out of the game, but maybe I'm just as much in it as all the other guys out there tonight. Like Killer Croc, Boomerang, Diablo, and-

 _ZAP_

Harley. 

They're probably fucking with her bars again, she likes to hang around on them. Most of the guards love it, it's like their own private little crazy strip show, but Waller doesn't allow it. Harley has fun with it, and she doesn't really want us to have all that much fun in here.

It wasn't just one zap, though. What I heard next made me get up and head to the door of my cell.

"Come on, you guys! I was just having some fun!" Harley's overexcited tone bounced on every single word.

I heard stomps and her scream.

"Hey!" I yelled at the guards outside my door, "What's goin' on?" They both turned to me and rolled their eyes.

I punched the metal door and made the skinnier guard jump a little, "What's happening to her?" Normally, I wouldn't have cared this much. I used to think of her and see a whole lotta pretty and a whole lotta crazy. But under all that clown makeup and the voices in her head, there's a real ass person. Also, I don't like people beating on women, no matter how crazy they are.

The guards didn't answer me, but before I could scare the skinny son of a bitch into answers, I heard footsteps and Harley's voice heading for my direction.

"Shot! Shottie! How ya doing baby?" Harley's sultry, but crazy as Hell voice cut through the door to my cell. She was being dragged brutally down the hall by a big group of guards. Her face was smiling, but her eyes were full of something I'd never thought I'd see in Harley Quinn: fear.

I leaned against the tiny opening of my cell door, "Hey Dollface. These guys bothering you?"

She batted her beautiful blue eyes in my direction as the guards dragged her down the hall. "Hey sweetie!" She struggled as she was dragged in front of my cell. Her face went from a crooked smile to an irritated glare. She yanked her arms in an attempt to get free from the guys. "You know nobody scares little ole' me!"

I nodded with a smirk on my face. But I still wasn't satisfied, "What'd she do, Griggs? Do too many summer salts in her cage?" I mocked.

Griggs plastered on the most slimy smile I'd ever seen. His beety little eyes never left mine as he slung Harley up against the door of my cell. Hard.

"Oh, Mr. Deadshot. It's not what she's done," He shook his head and his smile contorted into a greasy smirk. I locked eyes with Harley, whose pasty face was pressed up against the hole in my cells door. She looked confused and uncomfortable. "-It's what she's gonna do." He raised his eyebrows suggestively at me and dragged a struggling Harley away from my cell door.

I had to think fast. I didn't wanna hear these assholes beat on a woman, or worse. Especially Harley.

I looked back to see a piece of metal sticking off my cot. I grabbed and yanked it off.

"Aye! Griggs!"

The dumbass was already yanking Harley around by her hair, but he whipped around to look at me.

"What is it, Lawton? Want a turn?" His grin was as unsettling as some creeps I've killed in the past.

Banking on the fact that I never miss, I threw this pointy piece of metal right out my cell window and hit Griggs square in the face. He dropped Harley, who got up and kicked him in the balls. That crazy grin of hers coming back.

Griggs was down, he left his bloody face alone to hold onto what was left of his balls after the World Cup soccer kick Harley just presented him with. I would feel bad for the guy, but he was just about to do God knows what to my girl. I mean, the Joker's girl. Just because J's dead doesn't mean his girl should be left for whatever dipshit that can get his hands on her.

She scrambled over to the cell door. She didn't make it though, Griggs was already barking out orders to grab her and me and bring us to the main hall. Aka the area Griggs and his merry band of douchebags beat up on me and the other inmates from time to time.

I didn't mind the way they were grabbing me, but I hated the way they were grabbing her. Yanking her small frame around like she was some damn rag doll. She jumped up and kicked one of the guards square in the jaw. The sound of a loud crack and a scream proved my guess right that she broke the fuck outta that man's face. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. This girl's got spunk. The guards dragging my ass to the main hall rewarded my laugh with a kick to the gut.

I let out a muffled groan. Harley whipped around as best she could considering she was being dragged a few feet in front of me.

"Hey!" She yelled at the guards holding me as she struggled with the ones on her, "Put him back! He wasn't dancing on the bars, it was me," her eyes locked with mine and she looked genuinely worried for me. Huh, and everyone thought she was a selfish clown queen.

No one acknowledged her, but her protests didn't stop all the way down the hall and even when they threw us into metal chairs and strapped us down.

The chairs were side by side and she wasn't laughing anymore. She was yelling at the guards trying to get them to put me back in my cell.

Griggs stumbled into the room with that long nightstick he loved carrying around.

"Alright! Who's up first?" He asked innocently staring between the two of us.

"Griggsy!" Harley flipped her hair around and flashed her cutest and craziest smile. The hardest smiles to resist. Griggs' focus was all Harley's now.

She shook her head from side to side, letting her long, dyed hair flip around behind her. Griggs seemed enchanted by her.

I looked over at her curiously. What was she doing? This ain't gonna end well for her. Or Griggs. Or me. Anyone, come to think of it.

"Why don't we have our fun, and you put Floydy back?" Her smile was big and alluring but when she looked over at me it seemed as if her eyes were crying for help.

Griggs walked over to her, his creepy smile appeared once more.

"Oh, Miss Quinn. You know I'd love to," he replied lightly. She leaned forward in her seat as best she could with the cuffs keeping her in the chair. Griggs cleared his throat, "However-" he brought his nightstick back and smacked her across the face with it. Hard. "You-" he pointed his nightstick at me, then back to Harley, "-and your new little whore right here made that shit pretty damn difficult!"

I struggled in my seat which resulted in the guards grabbing me and holding me down more. "Leave her the fuck alone!" I yelled as I struggled with the three guards keeping me against this chair.

Harley spit out a pretty decent amount of blood and forced a grin out.

"What's the matter, Griggsy? Performance anxiety?" Harley looked over at me and winked.

I normally would've laughed, but Harley's perfectly white teeth were stained red with blood. Her aura was very confident, but her eyes were the only thing left of what I imagine was the girl she used to be.

Griggs grabbed a fistful of her bleached hair and yanked her face in his direction. He planted a deep, unwelcome kiss on her mouth. She was doing her best to attempt to escape his embrace. I felt my fists ball up. I wanted to look away, I can't stand anyone taking advantage of a woman. But I looked in hope that Harley had a trick up her sleeve.

After a few seconds, she submitted and began to kiss him back. At this point, I looked away. I don't wanna watch her go revert back to the Joker's Harley. She's better than the girl that'll do anything with anyone. Hopefully with J gone she'll start to see that. My assumption was apparently wrong because I heard Griggs let out a pained and some crazed giggles coming from Harley. I looked over as best I could, struggling against the guards' hands to see Griggs covering his mouth, but that wasn't stopping blood from pouring out between his fingers.

After a few moments of him mouthing and Harley giggling. He pointed at us both and pointed to the ropes in the corner of the room. The guards nodded and he stumbled out of the room.

They untied us from the chairs and dragged us to the corner of the hall Griggs had referenced to.

"Hey, I don't know you! Who are you?" Harley asked and a newer guard slung her against a metal bar harshly.

"Look, two of us is too much work. I ain't shit without my guns, she's crazy no matter what outfit she's in, why don't we put her away. And you guys and I can do whatever the fuck you need to do?" I offered. I didn't mind getting my ass beat double time for Harley. There's no way she did anything bad in her sell. According to Flag's weekly visits, all she does is read and make expressos.

Despite my best efforts, anything I said was met with laughter from the guards, and protests from Harley. shoved us against the same metal bar and strapped our feet to the bottom of it. They kept our hands cuffed and began to laugh as they walked away.

"What is this!" I yelled as they crossed the room. They flipped a switch which raised the bar our feet were strapped to, and it quickly flipped over so we were hanging upside down side by side.

"Have a nice evening!" One of the guards yelled at the shut out the lights and slammed the hall door shut behind them.


	2. A Little Time

Harley started to giggle and swing freely back and forth, building some momentum. I, on the other hand, let out an annoyed groan and rolled my eyes.

"What are you doing, doll face?" I asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Well," she started, stopped her drastic swinging altogether and meeting my eyes, "There's no real time limit as to how long we can hang like this." She began to swing again, but her eyes never left mine. "But, after a few minutes, all the blood will rush to your head, and apply pressure to your brain."

"Oh," I nodded, a bit surprised at her sudden intelligence. "Well that's good to know."

She let out a frustrated laugh. She almost was able to reach the straps holding our feet in place on the metal bar above our heads, but her fingers didn't get a good grip and she began to swing uncontrollably once more.

"I don't know about you, Floyd- can I call you Floyd?"

I chuckled slightly at her suddenly courtesy, "Sure, why not?"

She cracked a smile, "Well, I don't wanna hang like Batsy all night. So I'm gonna get outta this,"

She began to swing back and forth, once more in control of her movements. This time, she got a good grip on the straps at her feet, and she managed to undo them. She then jumped down and landed in a back hand spring, and jogged over towards the door.

"Hey! Harley!" I yelled, growing kinda concerned. Was she just gonna leave me up here?

She whipped around, her wicked smile turning into an icy glare, "Shhhh! They'll hear you!" She hissed across the room. She trotted over to the lever and flipped the switch, lowering the bar I was hanging from, and flipping me right side up. She jogged back over and undid the straps keeping my feet in place. My legs were feeling a little numb so I stumbled slightly. She grabbed my arm and snaked it around her shoulders, allowing me to put much of my weight on her for support.

"You didn't think I'd leave ya, did you?" She asked with a wink.

"For a second, I did." I cracked a smile anyway, happy to know ditching me was never her real plan.

"Oh come on, Floydy!" Even at a whisper her voice was perky and excitable. "I told you in Midway, you're my friend too," she looked up at me and batted her eyes, I hadn't realized how deep and blue they were until this very moment. There was a wide assortment of emotions within them. It was intriguing to look into. I could've easily gotten lost in them.

I think our intense eye contact begin to take some kinda toll on her, she cracked a smirk and sat down, lightly tugging me down with her. We sat together on the cold cement floor of the hall. It was pretty dark, but her impossibly white face and hair stuck out vividly.

The silence was comfortable, I almost thought she had fallen asleep, but she seemed to be staring off at the lever on the wall she pulled on.

"Dollface?" I asked. She jumped slightly and scooted away from me. My arm that was once lazily around her shoulders was back to my side.

She went to stand quickly, but I grabbed her hand. She turned around with her hand drawn back as if to smack me.

"Hey, hey, it's just me," I said. This wasn't the first time she had zoned out. And every time someone snaps her out of it, she acts like a frightened animal.

She looked at me for a few moments, lowering her hand and sitting down next to me again. She wasn't as close as she was before, but I could tell she was starting to relax.

"Sorry, I was just thinkin," she mumbled looking down at the floor.

"Everything okay in there?" I tried to joke and lightly stroked her temple.

She let out a laugh that sounded more forced than anything else. "You know it never is. Everyone does," she had a smile plastered on her face, but like many others, it didn't seem real.

"Wanna talk about it?" The clown queen doesn't seem like the vulnerable type, but hey, it's looking like we're gonna be stuck here all night.

She looked at me thoughtfully for a few moments, then looked off into the darkness.

I was about to change the subject, but she began talking.

"I think he pushed me out to die," she said it really quietly, almost like she was afraid of the words she was saying.

I leaned back and looked at her, "J? When?"

She scooted closer to me, and wrapped her hands around her stomach.

"When we were in the helicopter, I told him I wanted to go back and get the rest of ya. He said no, I didn't feel right about leaving ya there with Waller, so I told him to go back, and he threw me right out the back,"

I felt my fist clench. He tried to kill a woman? The woman who loves him in fact? I rested a hand on her shoulder, her resolve weakened slightly, I heard her sigh deeply.

I was about to reply, but she kept on.

"The very last thing he did before he died was push me out of a helicopter to kill me." She looked over at me, her lower lip quivered slightly. I tilted my head, not wanting to hear the answer to my next question. But I asked anyway, "How often?"

Her watery eyes snapped up to meet mine. It seemed like she was considering lying, but after a long moment she shrugged and shook her head.

"Whenever I make a mistake," her voice cracked a little, when I looked at her she was violently shaking her head, her eyes were shut tight.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me, "Hey, Dollface. We ain't gotta talk about this anymore," I placed my other hand on her cheek, stopping her from reliving those memories. Her eyes met mine once again, and for awhile, we just stared at each other. I lightly pulled her head towards mine, and gently kissed her forehead.

"He won't do that again, no one will,"

She let out a pained laugh, "You don't know that,"

I pressed my forehead to hers, "I'll be damned if I let that happen,"

She pulled away for a moment, she looked conflicted.

"Well, baby. You looked tired, you probably don't sleep much do ya?" She asked, plastering her fake smile on again.

I rolled my eyes. "Does anyone sleep here?"

"We could, they're not gonna come back in here tonight."

I didn't wanna know how she knew that, and I could tell she didn't wanna talk much about it either.

She stretched and laid back on the cold cement, trying to get comfortable.

I stretched out down next to her, but I took it kinda slow. The girl's a total mystery, would she want me close after such a personal confession? Or would she need her space?

She could tell I was kinda having an internal struggle with it, so she rolled her eyes and tugged my arm quickly down next to her.

"I'm not gonna break if you look at me for too long. I'm not a rag doll," she snapped while rolling her eyes.

Despite her irritation, I laughed. I'm glad she could bounce back. She had to adapt to that, living in the Joker's world for so long.

She rested her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her.

Huh, maybe the floor wouldn't be so uncomfortable.

 **A/N: I had a great idea for this story, so I'm probably gonna update kinda fast. Or have it written kinda fast. Posting it can be hard w my schedule is all. I hope this story also builds a little more of a following, I want to know people's opinions on this story, my writing, and the movies as well. Also, it's pretty obvious now, but in this version, like the extended cut, the Joker pushed Harley out of the helicopter to kill her, not save her life.**


	3. Just Me

I jolted awake to the sudden stomping footsteps outside the door and the lights flickering to life, illuminating the once dark room.

I expected Griggs and the rest of his crew, so my first instinct was to jump up and be ready for a fight. I heard a light groan beside me, I guess I had forgotten Harley was here as well.

I looked down to realize our bodies had bowed together in our sleep, and my arm had been lazily draped over her thin, strong frame.

Her baby blue eyes fluttered open rather quickly, boring into my brown ones.

We stared at each other for a second, before she cracked a sleepy smile. Not one of her normal, crazy, all teeth grins. A real smile.

Her eyes snapped from mine over to the door that was being opened.

Her quick movements snapped me out of my trance, and we both jumped up rather quickly together.

She tried to move forward, but I grabbed her arm, pulling her behind me. Just because J may not care what becomes of her, doesn't mean I don't either.

The door burst open, and to our relief it was only Flag.

"Why are you two in here unsupervised?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

Harley poked her head out from behind me, "Ask ya friend, Griggsy!" she snapped, batting her eyes at Flag.

Flag glanced Harley and then me. But his eyes immediately went back to Harley and widened.

"Harley, what happened to you?"

I whipped around and was shocked I hadn't noticed. There was some bruising around her temple down to her jawline. Her cheek was especially swollen, and her teeth still appeared to have a reddish tint from the blood that had filled her mouth the night before.

She hit Flag with an icy glare, "You don't look so hot yourself, Flagy!"

I brought my hand up to her chin and tilted her head to get a better look of her injuries.

"Do these hurt?"

She shrugged, "Kinda,"

I looked back towards the door. Giving Flag an expecting glance.

He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, "Get her to the infirmary,"

I wrapped my arm around her and guided the reluctant clown towards the door.

As we were crossing the threshold out into the main area of the prison, Flag put his arm out, permitting Harley to go but stopping me from leaving the room.

"Not you, Shot. You've gotta come with me," he muttered, giving Harley a concerned look.

Harley stopped and turned around, "Is he in trouble?" she gave Flag an icy glare, "Do ya really think he'd beat on a woman?" She challenged him with a finger to his chest.

The other guards with Flag were quick to restrain her, but Flag held a hand up to them, stopping them in their tracks.

"No, Craziness. He's not in trouble. I'm just gonna take him back to his cell,"

Harley gave him a skeptical stare, but eventually allowed the guards to escort her in the opposite direction.

Flag watched the guards lead her to the end of the hall and through a doorway before he turned his attention back to me. "Waller's here for another mission," he stated, still unable to meet my eyes.

"Is that why you guys are so quick to get Quinn fixed up? So you can yank us back out into the field again? What's wrong this time? Waller piss off someone else's girlfriend?" He turned back to me, and harshly shoved me against the wall. "That's not who June is. That's not who she ever was, so fuck off," his words were overloaded with venom, and his forearm was to my throat, cutting off my air supply almost completely.

I attempted for raise my arms up in defense, but it didn't work too well.

"My bad," I managed to choke out before Flag reluctantly dropped me and lead me down the hall in silence.

He opened up a huge metal door, which led to a room with a giant bird cage in the center. There were two floors in this room, surrounding the cage entirely. There were at least fifty guards in the room all looking around with tense expressions and guns at ready. Shit, whose room is this?

Before I could even ask, Flag answered, "Harley's cell,"

Damn, and I thought I had it bad. There wasn't even a bed in there. And Griggs got pissy when she hung on the bars, where else is she supposed to sleep?

I didn't get to spend much time looking over the pathetic excuse for a cell they gave to Harley, Flag started to nudge me around the walk way through another set of double doors. I'm guessing this was supposed to be the security guard's office. There were cameras in every room of the place, even the showering area. The overweight guard on security camera duty was fast asleep, an open comic book resting on his chest. Flag kicked his chair out from underneath him, the large man scrambled to pick up the empty Togo boxes of food he probably ate days ago, and laughed nervously under Flag's irritated glare.

Before the man to come up with an excuse, Flag's eyes were on the screens. "I thought I told you to disable the shower cameras. These people aren't animals, they'd have to be fucking insane to try and escape naked," Flag inquired.

The man jumped up quickly, saluting Flag before laughing slightly and attempting to explain himself, "Yes, but hotness- I mean Harley Quinn, actually is crazy, and we all thought that it would be better to have access to her whereabouts at all times," he stammered out, beginning to nervously sweat.

"Well, I didn't agree. And I doubt Waller did either. Does she know about this?"

The man shook his head quickly, "No sir,"

I couldn't hold it in anymore, "Then take it the fuck down, you creepy ass!" I shouted angrily at the bastard using Harley's personality as an excuse to watch her shower.

Flag nudged me harshly, putting me back in my place.

I took a step back, I was pretty damn mad, but if I lose my cool and they let Waller know, I may not be able to see Zoe for awhile. Despite the fact that we're all about to go out on another damn mission.

The security officer smirked at my warning from Flag, but shut up as soon as Flag took two steps forward, getting up in his face.

"Then take it the fuck down, creepy ass," Flag growled.

I had to hold back a chuckle, maybe Flag wasn't a total dumbass after all.

Flag nodded over to a large metal door in the corner of the room. I hesitated before heading over to it. I was about to open it before Flag put his hand out to stop me.

"Before you go in there, I just wanna say I'm sorry," he muttered discreetly, not meeting my eyes. What's with this dude? He hasn't been able to look me in the eyes at all this morning.

Before I could question him, he had opened the door and nudged me inside.

The only other person in this office was Waller, who rose from her large chair as I walked in. She didn't come around her overly large, black desk though. She pointed at one of the metal chairs in front of her desk.

"Deadshot. Sit," She didn't even try to mask the fact that she knew she had the power. Everything she's say she'd say as a command.

I hesitantly sat down. I heard the door slam and latch. What the fuck? Flag wasn't in here anymore either.

I thought this was a mission, where's everyone else?

"They all late to the party or something?" I snapped, a sense of uneasiness growing in my gut.

Waller's laugh was cold and unsettling, "I don't need any of them,"

I scoffed, "So what exactly do you need?"

"Just you,"

 **A/N: I hoped you guys liked it! I'm glad my story has gained some following. I wanted to go into this chapter more, but what's more fun than a cliff hanger? I'll get on the next one as soon as I can.**

 **Next chapter: Waller makes Deadshot an offer that he might not be able to turn down.**


	4. Propositions

Her office decorum, or lack thereof, represented her personality quite well. The minimal artwork were dark shades of grays and reds, crafted into splotch-like designs, with sharp edges. It didn't resemble anything really, just poorly drawn triangles and squares. I wonder how much she paid for this mediocre artwork. The bookshelf behind her was filled head to toe with nonfiction books on guns, criminology, world famous dictators, and strategies of war. Huh, this was definitely Waller's office.

She had explained a small part of what she intended on having me do for my next "mission," and slid the thickest file I've ever seen across her desk directly in front of me. I had yet to open it. I was still trying to wrap my head around her idea. She had to be insane.

We stared at each other for a few moments, we were both daring the other to speak first. I took a deep breath and rubbed my bald head awkwardly.

"So you think the Joker is still alive?" I questioned, eyeing the file in front of me. Harley's file.

Waller didn't say anything. She simply nodded.

"Okay," I took another deep breath. "And you believe that he will come to Belle Reve to take Harley?"

She took a sip out of her mug of hot tea and nodded again.

"So what exactly does this have to do with me? Cause I'm really not seeing why I'm the only one needed for whatever kinda beef you have with Harley's 'friend'," I did the air quotes as I remembered our conversation about getting the Joker to help us escape back in Midway.

"You, and Dr. Quinzel seemed to have formed a special connection. The only shot you ever missed was the one you took at her, she choose you and the rest of the inmates over the Enchantress's promise to save the Joker. Also, I heard you two took a beating from Griggs's men in an attempt to keep each other from getting hurt. How sweet," her smiled seemed full of power and manipulation.

However, I wasn't gonna bite. This wasn't adding up.

"Okay, again, What in the Hell does this have to do with me? And secondly, Dr. Quinzel? What is she a MD?"

She took another sip of her tea, "PhD," she set down her drink and pointed at the file, "All you will need to know is in there. Also, We are fairly sure the Joker will come here to get Harley, and she will turn him down,"

I heard myself laugh, "How exactly do you expect anyone to pick prison over freedom? Hell, I'd go with J if he busted me out,"

She gave me a dark stare, "We both know you wouldn't set foot near that man, and we both also know that Harley Quinn is a lot of things when she's around the Joker, but-"

"Free ain't one of them," I cut her off.

She nodded solemnly. "Harley Quinn is a very mentally ill and unstable woman. Her obsession with the Joker makes her a total wildcard. And she won't be useful on missions until she sees that she is capable of being a whole person by herself," she reached across my desk, lifting the file. She flipped for a moment until she found what she was looking for, and handed it back to me.

The pages were full of notes on Harley from various psychiatrists, listings of possible mental disorders, and medications. Also, photos of her body coated in bruises, probably soon after she as captured. I couldn't tell if the bruises were from Batman or the Joker himself. Considering how Batman will beat the shit out of most of us before handing us in, but Boom once told me he heard that Batman saved Harley from drowning, before handing her over to the guards at Belle Reve. So, all theories point to the injuries coming from J after all. Maybe that's why she doesn't seem to mind taking a beating from Griggs, it might be nothing compared to her life with him.

I felt my fist clench and crumple part of the file. I scammed the words on the page.

"It says here she might have possible Stockholm Syndrome?" I read before looking back to Waller, waiting on her to tell me what the fuck all this is and why she's sharing it with me.

"It's a mental illness where hostage victims start to feel empathy, sympathy, or, in her case, love for their captures," Waller was back to casually drinking that damned tea again.

"Did the Joker kidnap her?" I didn't get it, Harley seems too happy to see her 'Puddin' for it to be just some big tortuous mess. But then again, she did say the last thing he did before he allegedly died was try to kill her. Maybe she's just convinced that's what love is.

"No, he didn't kidnap her. That's why other theories point to a quasi-Florence Nightingale Syndrome, where a doctor falls for their patient. However-"

I didn't get it, "He was her doctor?" She held her hand up, starting to get quite irritated with my constant interruptions. But I didn't care, none of this made any damn sense.

"He was her patient. So the psychiatrists here believe that she was manipulated and taken advantage of by her patient, instead of the other way around like it usually is. She's quite an interesting patient apparently. I can definitely see the allure she or the Joker may have on most mental health professionals,"

"Wait wait wait. Harley was a psychiatrist?" I didn't like looking clueless, but none of this shit was making sense. The more Waller talked, the less I understood why I was needed. This meeting was about Harley and J, not me.

She nodded, "At none other than Arkham Asylum,"

Holy shit.

The silence was uncomfortable and filled with tension and unanswered questions. I didn't even know where to begin. Harley was a doctor? How fucked up did the Joker get her? Why did Waller have me going over her file? Was the Joker alive? And, the one eating at me the most, what the flying fuck am I doing here?

I was starting to get pretty anxious. Irritated? Uneasy? I'm not really all that sure anymore. Too much information was thrown at me at once, and I still wasn't even sure what this "mission" was supposed to be.

All I was really certain of was that I had had enough. "Okay, Waller. Why am I here? Don't bullshit me. Tell me exactly what you are expecting me to do," my voice was harsh and threatening. I was tired of trying to figure out what she needed me for.

Waller's smirk faded into a grim line on her face. She took a deep breath. "Harley isn't strong enough to leave the Joker on her own. She just needs some support and a little push. That's where you come in,"

I didn't like where this was going.

She continued, "We were able to get Doctor Moon-" she referenced to the door behind me where Flag was probably standing on the other side. "-to keep her Enchantress under control because Flag helped her realize how important she was to the bigger picture,"

I didn't even wanna hear this anymore. I stood up, Harley's large file that was once in my lap toppling to the floor, "You want me to manipulate Harley into leaving the Joker? You want me to babysit her and brainwash her into believing she should stay your little slave? Do you know how fucking crazy that sounds?" I was fuming.

She looked up at me from her seat, completely unfazed by my outburst.

"You wouldn't be manipulating her. You'd be showing her a life without the Joker. A life she where she could potentially reenter society. A life where she can have a family. That's what she wants, but she still believes the Joker will provide that for her eventually,"

I considered what she said, but I still didn't feel right about it.

I looked at her thoughtfully, "I don't feel right pretending to be in love with her,"

Her eyes snapped up at me and her face grew irritated. "You think I wanted Flag to go soft on me? He was supposed to keep her in line, not fall in love with her," she growled at me. "That is rule one of your mission. If you fall in love with her, the whole thing will be ruined. You'll lose focus, and there's too much at stake for that,"

I never thought I'd feel bad for Flag, but it must hurt having someone pull strings that hurt the person you love most. If Waller ever had the reins of Zoe's life I'd lose my shit.

As if she read my mind, "We both know you won't kill Harley Quinn, but maybe you'll fix her. I made you this offer before, and I'm not doing it again. Fix Harley Quinn. Do it for your freedom and your kid,"

 **A/N: I hope this chapter isn't too much. It's really long and has a lot, but I really wanted to get into the psychological aspects of Harley. I hope this is as interesting for you all as it was for me to write.**

 **Next chapter: Deadshot is granted permission to have regular visits with Harley. And he makes a decision on Waller's proposal.**


	5. Fix Harley Quinn

I left Waller's office hours ago. Flag escorted me back to my cell in complete silence. Harley was in her cage again, she was asleep on the floor of it. As Flag dropped me off in my cell, he pulled Harley's crumpled up file (thanks to me) out of his bag and handed it to me. His only input on the matter was just to request I think it over before making any definite decision. I couldn't tell if he was subtly trying to get me to turn Waller down, or trying to push me to go for her idea. Before I could ask, my cell door was shut and locked in my face.

I couldn't get into the rhythm of boxing. Every time I took a hit at the bag I could see J beating on Harley. So instead, I tried to read my letters from Zoe, but all the words just started to blur together. Eventually, I decided to lie down and try to sleep on it. When that didn't work, I pulled out a tennis ball Griggs gives all the inmates for some sort of entertainment when we arrive at Belle Reve, and started bouncing it off the ceiling.

 _"Fix Harley Quinn. Do it for your freedom and kid,"_ Her words rang in my ears over and over again.

How could I do this to Harley? On one hand, it would help her realize she was her own person, and grant me my freedom and custody of Zoe. On the other, it would be one big manipulation. What if she found out about it? I don't want to be the guy that pushes her that much further towards the edge. What if she finds out and goes running back to the Joker and it ends up worse for her?

Also is the Joker really still alive? His plane went down in Midway. We all saw it. So much had happened. If he's still alive, wouldn't he have come to get her already? It's been weeks since it's all gone down there. Also, that's all great that I'll be free, but what about Harley? If she rejects the Joker and I walk free, wouldn't she figure it out? I feel like if I "fixed her" then just left she'd feel abandoned by yet another person she thought cared deeply for her.

Every time I thought of a reason why Waller's proposal was a good idea, I could think of another reason why it wasn't.

I rolled over on my side and saw a photo of Zoe in her Halloween costume she had sent to me. Ironically, she was a clown. As I looked over this picture, it reminded me of Harley in a weird way. Zoe had always believed I could do the right thing. Despite the fact that I literally killed people for money, she would always tell me I was a good man. She'd look at me like I was a hero, even though most days I feel like the furthest thing from one. I'd never seen anyone else give me that look until after we defeated the Enchantress in Midway. Harley offered to drive me to Gotham to see Zoe, and she was looking at me in the exact way Zoe always does: respectful and proud.

For what felt like hours, I stared at this picture wondering what Zoe would tell me to do if she was here. I know she wants me home, what daughter wouldn't want her dad back? But she's always been there to push me in the right direction. She wouldn't let me kill the fucking Bat, and I was never that angry about that either. She was doing what she thought was right, and that takes a lot of courage. Despite the fact that moments after I was in handcuffs, I was very proud of her for what she did that night.

I fell into a fitful sleep after awhile, waking up to a harsh banging on my cell door the next morning. I rolled over, expecting to get a beating from Griggs. Our business two nights ago was never truly finished. Harley made damn sure I wasn't as bad off from it as she was. I was pretty sure Griggs would be in a pretty shitty mood because we never really got what he had up his sleeve for both of us. To my surprise, for the second morning in a row, Flag was at my door. Flag's only supposed to come by once a week to oversee Belle Reve. So what's he still doing here?

I gave him a questioning look,

"Where's Griggs?"

For a moment, Flag's ever-so-serious expression evaporated into a smirk, "He was fired. Waller wants me around for awhile until we can implement some serious changes around here. Those wouldn't really be done with that asshole in charge, would they?"

I felt a grin break out across my face. Finally, nobody to torment all of with bearings, sedatives, invasive cameras, water, and god knows what he did to Harley.

He took my smile as an agreement and ushered me out the door. I walked to the threshold of my cell and stopped for a moment. "I haven't decided yet. About Waller's idea, I mean," I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. I didn't want to be taken back there only to tell her I still wasn't sure.

Flag turned to face and nodded stiffly, "I understand. But we're not going there. One of the changes to Belle Reve is that the inmates can visit with one another under guard supervision," he simply turned his head slightly and nodded in the direction down the hall and we both started walking.

I didn't have to ask him to know that they were taking me to see Harley.

To my surprise, there was a bed in Harley's cage. There was also a stack of books almost as tall as the bed next to it in the corner, and a large table holding the espresso machine she had asked Waller for back in Midway. Her sleeping figure was curled around a rather large romance novel, and I cracked a small smile at how peaceful and, frankly, beautiful she looked while she slept. Flag let me sit right by her bedside, the only thing between us was the bars she always hangs on while she's awake. The swelling in her face had gone down slightly, the bruising was fading too. It made me happy just to watch her sleep peacefully. It's a rarity here at Belle Reve, and probably even worse for her because of J's temper. The photos of her in her file haunted me slightly. All the bruising around her face, breasts, stomach, basically any and everywhere.

I could feel the eyes of every guard in the large room on me. They were probably expecting me to do something, but I wasn't gonna disturb her. Why would I? To poke around in her brain? To force her to tell me, and the rest of the prison, the abuses of 'Mistah J'? How hard her life has been since she ran off with him? How good she was at her career as a therapist before she fell in love with a crazy clown man? I glanced over her file. Curiosity for the best of me, I didn't read much. Every word I read felt more and more like an invasion of her privacy. Waller was right, Harley was my favorite member of our little "suicide squad," but reading her file was too much too soon. I feel like I crossed some line we were never meant to cross. Not yet at least.

My worrying seemed to have rub off on her, her eyes shot open and bored into mine. Just for a moment, before she shot up out of her bed and across the floor to the opposite corner of the cage. Her stance wasn't cowardly. Cautious but intimidating. Like when an animal is hurt and is trying to get a predator to stay away.

"Whoa, whoa! Harley, it's me!" My hands were up at the bars. I kind of wanted to comfort her, but how can I? There's bars in between us and fifty men with loaded guns and watchful eyes on us a few feet behind us. Her eyes were still fierce and her body was still tense.

"Harley, it's just me," I tried to keep my voice even, but the assholes behind us were really starting to put me on edge.

When she didn't budge, I whipped around at the guards. "Can someone open the doors?" Nobody moved. "Please! I ain't got shit on me to hurt anyone!" I scanned the room and found Flag. He stared me down for a moment before looking over at the guards by the door of her cell and nodding. The guard eyed Harley suspiciously and unlocked the door. As soon as it was cracked, she bolted for it. I ran up and grabbed her at the threshold. She fought against my grip. She scratched at me and punched my chest over and over.

"Harley, Doll! It's just me," I repeated over and over again until the punches became weaker and farther apart. I couldn't tell if she was just tired or starting to realize whoever she may have thought I was at first, I'm not. I'm not here to hurt her. I'm pissed anyone ever did. Her breathing became heavy and to my surprise, she started to sob into my chest.

"He's dead," I felt my heart sink for her. She's in love with a guy who nearly beat her to death on more than one occasion. But when he's finally gone for good, she's heartbroken. I looked over at Flag, who ushered the majority of the guards out to give us some privacy. Huh, Waller must be serious about me and Harley working together. This is a lot of trust to have in a crazy clown lady and a man who used to kill people for money.

I held her in my arms as we stood there for a long time. She continued to cry and would occasionally mumble his name over and over.

"It's gonna be alright," was pretty much all the comfort I could provide. Hell, if someone did me the way J apparently did her, I'd be celebrating the bastard was dead. But apparently he used electricity to fuck with her brain. At least that's what her file says. All the levels of crazy she is are all because he wanted a special little toy to play with and break whenever he wanted. How fucking sick.

After another while, I peeled her off of me and held her at arms length. I hunched a little to make eye level with her. She wasn't wearing any makeup so nothing had run down her face, but it was quite blotchy from all the crying.

"Are you sad that he's gone, or sad about the last thing he did before he died?"

Her lip began to quiver once more, but she took a deep breath and held in any excess tears. After a moment she responded shakily, "A little bit of both, I think."

I nodded simply and took a breath, "You deserve more,"

She met my eyes once more, taking a step away from me before wiping the tears from her eyes. To my surprise, she nodded. "I know, I just-"

"Never believed that till now?" I finished raising an eyebrow.

"Till he tossed me out of the helicopter actually," she corrected weakly but nodded anyway.

"Is that why you don't have Puddin around anymore?" I pointed at her neck. I remember seeing her toss his necklace into the rain. It never really made sense until she told me what he had done.

She nodded again, looking at the floor.

"I think, I think that if he ever broke me outta here. Ya know before he died, he would've brought me right back the minute he was bored with me," she mumbled, still eyeing the floor.

"You're more than that,"

She shook her head simply, "More than what?"

"His little toy, Harley,"

"Yeah? Says who?" She mumbled blankly.

"I think you can be so much better. Why don't you?"

She looked up at me for a moment, her eyes thoughtful and sad. Before I could say anything else, she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly. I didn't say anything else, I just held on.

Fuck my doubts. She needed some help.


	6. My Terms

Waller didn't seem to be biting. She looked up at me from her large leather chair, rolling her eyes slightly before responding. "I offer you complete and utter freedom, but you still try and do this mission on your own terms? This is just like when we asked for your help in Midway, Lawton."

I felt like maybe sitting and behaving rationally would help my case, but this was a big deal, and Waller needed to understand. "Look, all I'm asking is that she goes free too. You think she's gonna notice something's up when she refuses J and the only person close enough to her to make her leave him just happens to be freed? This way, she won't find out about the plan. And if you let her go free after I show her how much more she has to offer, there won't be any chance of her running back to that guy. If she starts to think me being there for her was something you made me do, she'll escape and find him anyway."

She shook her head, "But being there for her is something we're making you do, Lawton. Don't go into this having genuine feelings. You don't wanna end up like Flag," she nodded behind me once again, referencing to Flag who was probably standing guard on the outside of the door. Again.

"Was he supposed to mimic feelings for his lady?"

She rolled her eyes, "Sit down, Mr. Lawton,"

I debated losing it on her, but if I was gonna feel good about this whole thing, Harley needed to walk free. If that's gonna happen, I need to be a little more patient with Waller.

I sat quickly, but pressed on, "Answer the question." Okay, so maybe I'm not as patient with her as I intended.

"We hired him to attempt to connect with her on any level he saw fit that would keep her in line. At first he was willing and obedient. He would've killed her without thought if I said so, but eventually the connection he faked became real. That's where problems arise."

I nodded slowly, "That's a little fucked up, don't you think?"

She shrugged slightly, but besides that pretty much ignored my question. "Are you in or are you out?" She asked flatly.

"Will Harley walk free?" I challenged.

"You will both be out the beck and call of Task Force X. If there is a mission you will be called from your real lives and will be required to fight under my authority just like in Midway City. You will be tracked as well, we will know your locations at every moment of every day."

"Is that a yes?"

She sighed and nodded slowly, "You have a good point. If you can pull this off, you'll both walk free,"

I had to fight a smile from forming on my face. I didn't want to end up like Flag, or Waller to think I was actually into her and give this job to someone else. I'm not into her.

"So," I leaned forward slightly, "what all will this idea you have entail? Do I just hang with her and hope she opens up or what?"

"That," Waller then opened up her copy of Harley's file, "And if that doesn't work, you are granted permission to meet with the top security guards keeping a constant record of her behavior since she arrived here, footage from cameras where she and the Joker can be seen together we've recovered from traffic cameras, security cameras in stores and whatnot. Also, you will be granted permission to meet with the therapists assigned to her case here at Belle Reve. And if that doesn't work,"

I raised my eyebrows and let out a low whistle before interrupting, "How would all that not work?"

She put her hand up again to silence me, ever so irritated with my lack of patience, "You will be able to contact the person who sent her here in the first place,"

I felt my mouth drop slightly in shock. Wait, was she serious?

"Um, I have heard stories about who dropped her off here and I'm not sure if it's actually-"

This time she cut me off, "You've probably heard right,"

I tried to keep my expression even and impassive. No rage, this is for Harley. Also, it's all rumors. The Bat didn't bring in half these assholes. The soldiers for Waller got Boom, Diablo turned himself in. Maybe the dude that got Harley was just a random cop or a rogue employee or J. Doesn't have to be the guy that got me.

"Mr. Lawton," Waller snapped me out of my thoughts. I hadn't noticed Flag had opened the door and was standing behind me to take me to my cell. "Your time is up. Do you still accept my terms knowing this new information?"

I stood and nodded, but quickly turned to face Flag. I didn't wanna know. It probably wasn't who I was afraid it was anyway. Odds are it's not. I've always been great with stats. Statistics would say it's not him. I took two steps towards her door back to the prison, but turned dead in my tracks.

Before I knew what I was doing, the words were leaving my lips, "Just tell me, is it him?"

She let a smirk play on her lips for a moment, before returning to her signature hard expression. "If by him, you mean Batman, then you're correct. Get to studying, Mr. Lawton," she added with a smug wink.

This mission better fucking work.

A/N: The next chapters will be longer.


	7. I'm Her Friend Too

A/N: This is a long time coming and I'm sorry for that. I had my wisdom teeth surgery and then I had a stomach virus and the holidays happened and that's all fine and good. This chapter is a lot longer than the last, with more involvement with Harley, and more of Deadshot's thoughts and feelings and whatnot. Enjoy! Also, review with feedback!

I haven't seen Harley in the past three days. It's been me cooped up in my cell. I'd spent this time doing exactly what Waller wanted me to do: read her file. I think this is the first time I had so willingly followed her orders. Hopefully, it'll be the last. Most people might find extensive studying on a single subject boring as Hell. Shit, I thought I would as well. I'd done stuff like this before, for assassin jobs before I ended up here. I would study rivals of the CEOS over and over again. I knew everything I possibly needed to know about them to get my job done. Looking over their boring little routines was definitely a lot less interesting, and time consuming, than reading Harley's file. Instead of doing my real job, I was playing her little therapist.

Waller had urged me not to develop any true feelings for Harley, friendship or otherwise. In all honesty, I was finding it difficult. The more I read, the more I felt all kinds of feelings for Harley. I felt anger with J for ruining her in so many ways. I felt sympathy for her, since she once told a shrink here that all she really wanted was to retire with J. I felt a connection with her when I read the page on her just wanting a family. I don't feel like I got anything right before my kid, Zoe. I wasn't sure how to just keep any and all feelings about Harley and her life at bay. I wasn't as soft as Flag obviously, but I was a sociopath like Waller either. I was somewhere in the middle, caught out at sea by the riptide that is formerly Dr. Harleen Quinzel.

I read her file two times over again today before deciding to take a break. I looked over at the punching bag collecting dust in the corner of my cell, willing myself to get up and try again with it. Instead, I let out a deep sigh and stretched back down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Harley was a ball of unconditional and unfortunately placed love and fear wrapped up inside a spunky girl in tight little metallic shorts. She was an enigma with blue and pink pigtails. Just another target, I'm still in the driver's seat here. I had to remind myself of that. I'm still driving, just driving a different car. I'm not studying to kill, I'm studying to save. Huh, I guess I am becoming more and more like the hero Zoe thinks I am.

I sat up and quickly and grabbed the file once more when I heard my cell door unlock and slide open. Flag stepped inside and leaned against the frame of the large, metal door. I looked up and looked him over, waiting for him to speak. He just looked me over, chewing on the inside of his mouth like he wanted to tell me something.

This little dance around what Flag wanted to say and what he wasn't going to say started to irritate me. I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "What is it? You gonna tell me I'm reading this file wrong?" I obnoxiously waved the thick folder in his direction.

Flag rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath, "When I started spending time with June, I had no idea she'd become such a big part of my life. I had no feelings, and I didn't think I'd have any develop. I fully intended for her to be just another job, another easy task to check off my list for Wall-"

I couldn't take it anymore, "Get to the point, Flag."

He rolled his eyes at my apparent impatience and smirked, "Right. Well, all I'm going to say is that the closer you get to someone, the harder it is for you to keep them at an arm's length,"

I looked up from Harley's file, Flag's cryptic advice peaking my interest. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He rubbed the back of his neck once more, shifting his weight awkwardly between his feet before continuing, "Quinn may be batshit crazy, but she's an intelligent woman, right?"

I lifted the file in his direction, "Two PHd's."

He nodded, "Right. So, even if you do get her to open up, eventually she's gonna start to notice that you're not opening up at all. Also, it's not secret you and I have been seeing a lot of each other lately. She's gonna put two and two together here, Lawton."

I raised an eyebrow, still not seeing his point clearly, "She's gonna put two and two together to see what exactly, Flag?" I challenged.

Flag merely shrugged, "That you aren't getting close to her for any reason other than your own personal gain. As soon as the Joker's out of the picture, you will be too. She's gonna notice, she's not an idiot."

I stood up, anger starting to boil over, "Hey! I'm not gonna fuck her up anymore. There's more to this than all that" I barked out, easily shoving Flag into the wall behind him.

His expression conformed into a smirk, and he let out an irritated laugh, "Careful, Deadshot. Waller won't like the idea of you doing this for any other reason besides Task Force X,"

I let up on him slightly, still not seeing his point, "Get to the point, or get out."

He raised his hands up defensively, and I let him go. "I have to take you to Quinn's cell, so I can't exactly get out without you,"

I let out a shrug, surprised at the small amount of excitement brewing in my gut as I followed Flag out the door and down the hall.

We walked in silence, I didn't pay Flag all that much attention in all honesty. I was too busy wondering why the idea of seeing her suddenly was the highlight of my day. The last three days, actually. I knew that being happy to see Harley was exactly what Waller didn't want, but I haven't felt a connection to anyone in a long time. Honestly I never felt connected to anyone in the way I felt with Harley. Even my wife, Zoe's mom. I feel like I could tell her anything, and she wouldn't judge me or think less of me. Like when we were getting ready for the mission in Midway, and Harley asked me about my suit. I told her I liked wearing it because people always die when I do. She didn't think less of me for having those feelings.

Flag stopping me outside Harley's cell's room caused me to jump. He gave me a wide eyed look, and I just shrugged. "Lost in thought, I guess."

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, before placing a hand on my shoulder and looking me square in the face. "Let her in, Lawton. But don't let your guard down,"

Finally, this man found his point. I opened my mouth to make some smart ass remark, but all that came out was a simple nodd. Oh, and, "Thanks. I know you probably have some experience with this sort of thing, and no offense, I don't really wanna end up like you and your lady. I've got too much to lose with my kid," Why did I get so damn sentimental with this asshat that just a couple weeks ago was threatening to, "-play the Hollywood Squares version of I'll blow your freaking head off?" This wasn't me.

He took his hand off my shoulder and held d

the door open to let me go first. I looked back at him and gave a polite nodd.

Polite? Definitely not me.

The image I saw when I walked through the door was not exactly what I expected, but what is my crazy clown queen without her spontaneity? She had her bedsheets tied up in the top rails of her cage and was hanging upside down wrapped within them. She was swinging back and forth quickly, and without much rhythm. There was a smile on her face, only it wasn't a crazy one. It was like the smile she's probably hidden from the world the day that she put on the Harley Quinn costume. It was like watching a hurricane from the eye of the storm. She was a beautiful bundle of chaos. I couldn't help but smirk at the sight of it.

All the guards on the second level of her caged room were watching through the scopes of their guns. The ones on the first floor were more relaxed, very few guards had their guns drawn. Some were even leaning against the bars of her cage, enchanted by her abilities and weird sort of grace. I leaned against the thick concrete wall beside me and continued to watch.

I was lost in my thoughts watching her until a guard roughly shoved me forward, into the center of the room. I whipped around with my arm drawn back, ready to fuck this guy up.

"You better watch it, kid." I barked dangerously.

"Whatcha gonna do, pops?" the skinny prick snapped.

"I'm in this place for putting pricks like you down, don't push me." I growled and looked back over at Harley, who still seemed to be into her flips and tricks. I took a breath. Walk away, Lawton. Do it for her.

"That's right, Lawton. Head to your bitch over there," I stopped short and turned back to the guy. Hold it in, Lawton.

The guard saw he hit a nerve, and that only made him smirk harder. "Walk away, because if you piss me off, I can do whatever the fuck I want to your crazy bitch strung up in that c-" That's about as far as he got before I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slung his ass against the wall. I cocked my fist back in one fluid motion, ready to lay this mother fucker out on this concrete floor. Guards eyes and guns were on me all over this room, but I didn't care. I'm gonna kill this guy.

"Floyd!" I stopped short, but didn't let the guy go. I looked around slowly, to see her hanging upside down, her wide, baby blue eyes boring into mine. Her eyes were telling me to let him go, something Harley Quinn would never tell me to do out loud. I took a breath, but dropped the asshole. The guards wasted no time at all to grab and restrain my ass. Damn, no doubt I'll be hearing about this from Waller.

"Let him go! Let him go. Now!" Harley growled from her cage. She flipped down from her bars. She sprinted to the edge of her cage, her only restraint was the bars. The skinny prick looked between us and broke into a chuckle. "This outta be fun. Haven't had a lot of this since Griggs had to go," His greasy smile reminded me of Griggs for sure.

"Don't." I growled at skinny prick, who was already well on his way to her cage.

"Don't fucking touch him," Harley's voice was loud and full of venom, but still even. Her face was set in a signature Harley smile, daring him to come forward.

The guard eyed her for a moment, before turning back toward me. He didn't get very far before she began her protests again.

"I swear to God, Skinny! Don't you fucking touch Fl-" he spun on his heel and got her by the throat in a few swift motions. I struggled against the guards on me. They weren't doing much besides holding me in place. Flag probably told them not to put a hurting on Harley and I. This asshole didn't seem to get it.

"Leave her alone!" I barked out from my spot against the wall. Hell, there probably wasn't shit I could do, but I wasn't gonna let this dipshit lay a hand on her. His hand was wrapped tightly around her throat, making her white face look even more pale. Her smile was wider, and laughter was escaping her lips. The crazy kind. The guard wasn't gonna say it, but I could tell the laughter kinda unsettled him.

"Smith! Step back. Now!" Flag's arms were already on the guards holding me back. I'm guessing Smith is the little guy at Harley's throat. Huh, he's lucky Flag was here to break this whole thing up.

"Flag, he threatened me!" Smith yelled back, his hand still tightened around Harley's throat. However, he was looking back at Flag, probably regretting his actions thus far, but was too scared to go back. I couldn't help but smile, because the time he spent looking back at Flag was just the right amount of time Harley needed to grab him by his collar and yank his head hard against the bars. There was a crack, probably Smith's skull.

Harley's laughter was louder, but her false smile was still there. I couldn't help but laugh a little myself. I shut that down once Flag gave me a sharp glare.

He looked back over at the mess Harley made and rolled his eyes, "Somebody help him. And keep your hands off Waller's Task Force!" He growled, looking around at the guards throughout the room.

The guards cleared out for the most part, minus the few that stayed back to pick up what was left of Smith. Harley stood smiling and blew kisses at the guards as they carried him out into the main hall of the prison. Once it all settled down, her eyes found mine, and she smiled slightly once more with a shrug.

Flag looked expectantly at me. I didn't need him to say that our little field trip was done for today.

I nodded, but couldn't help myself as I walked toward her cell. I never got this intoxication thing about Harley when I first heard of her. Even the first time I met her. I never really got it. It wasn't until this very moment that I realized just how intoxicating Harley Quinn can be.

Flag didn't argue, he was probably wondering how to tell Waller about the minimal face time Harley and I got today. Any exchange will be better than none at all.

I walked quickly as I met her eyes once more. Even her eyes were intoxicating. Her eyelashes fluttered as her face formed a sly smirk. She had to have been proud of herself for putting Smith down. God knows I was.

"Hey, crazy glue. How are holding up?" I leaned against the outside of her cage, mimicking her motions as she leaned against the inside.

"Better than you, apparently. What's the matter, Shot? Not so tough without your guns?" Her voice was incredibly sweet and incredibly taunting all at once.

"Hey, it's hard with a bunch of guys on you. You only had the one," I defended lightheartedly, a smirk forming against my lips.

"You're right. That little guy was nowhere near big enough for me to show off to ya," she shrugged and flashed another smile. Witty banter? I like it.

I chuckled slightly, "You showed off enough back in Midway, Dollface."

She smiled, but rolled her eyes slightly, "Well, there's other ways I can show off."

"You flipped around on these bars for a while, that was pretty impressive," I stated matter of factly, "Thanks," I rubbed my neck awkwardly, "For telling me not to hit the guy,"

"I didn't tell you anything. That asshat deserved it." She attempted to shrug it off.

"You didn't have to tell me, but I knew that's what you meant. You saved my ass."

She nodded, and her eyes grew thoughtful. Her hand reached out through the bars, and rubbed my face with her fingers. I felt like I shouldn't have enjoyed that, but I did. I didn't stop her.

I also didn't stop her when she lightly pulled my face towards the edge of the bars and planted a short, sweet kiss on my lips.

She let me go as quickly as she kissed me to begin with. She stepped back from the bars slightly. Her eyes bored into mine once more, and a small smile formed on her face.

"I'll save your ass because you're my friend, Floyd."

I felt myself smile, "I'm your friend, too? What about J?"

Her eyes glossed over slightly at the mention of his name, but she shook her head. "No. He's not my friend anymore,"

I felt myself smile even bigger.


	8. Surprises

**A/N: This chapter is also pretty long. I've also started on the next chapter. I tried to combine the two but it was way too long and didn't flow as well. I'll definitely update pretty soon. I'm kinda on a roll here. I hope you guys enjoy this! Review with feedback!**

"I lied to you," I mumbled, staring up at the high ceiling. The still, peaceful silence broken at my random revelation.

She rolled over, letting out a quiet yawn. "About what?"

"Never being in love," I muttered. I didn't know how she'd react.

She rolled over completely, straddling me and stretching her arms above her head sleepily as she did so. "What do you mean?" She asked through a yawn.

"I love my daughter, very much." I didn't like opening up about my daughter, but Harley was different.

"I know, she's in the next room, Floyd." Her tone was sleepy, but teasing as always.

I laughed a little, but a grin grew across my face as I saw a smile beginning to form on her face. She and Zoe had really hit it off since we moved in together. We're like a real family.

"I'm also in love with you," I said, then met her eyes slowing, waiting for a reaction.

She bit her lip in that sexy way she always does before she smiles or says something meaningful. Her face went from a smile to a grimace. In fact, she almost looked as if she were about to start crying.

I sat up, my hands stroking her face lightly. "Whoa, what's wrong, Dollface?"

She shook her head, causing me to pull my hands back from her face.

"What is it?" I pleaded. I hated seeing her unhappy. It's rare, but she has a lot of fucked up shit in her head. Despite being rid of J, Belle Reve, and criminal activity altogether. She doesn't talk about it much. Talking isn't always her style, but if she wants to talk, I'll never stop her. I love hearing her speak.

"It's just, if you're in love with me, why you'd let me die?" Her eyes were watery, tears ready to fall.

"What are you talking ab-" shots rang out before I could even react. Harley's body crumpled on top of mine. Broken and dying.

My world just crumbled and died in front of my eyes, and all I could hear was the laughter of Mr. J.

 _BANG BANG_

"Deadshot! Get up!"

I shot up from my cot in my dusty old cell. I was breathing heavy, my body soaked with sweat.

Never have I ever been so happy to be here. I wasn't at my apartment. I was in my cell. No dead Quinn, and no J in sight.

I took another deep breath. The banging turned into whoever it was unlocking the door and stepping inside.

I sat up quicker than normal once I saw my visitor was Waller. I ran my hand over my bald head before swinging my legs over the side of my cot and standing up.

She raised an eyebrow at me, "It's almost noon,"

I shrugged, "Haven't been able to sleep much lately,"

She nodded slowly, "Bad dreams?"

I couldn't tell if she was mocking me or if it was a real concern, so I ignored it. "How's Harley?"

This time, she shrugged. "You tell me,"

I shrugged in return, letting out a bit of an attitude. "Well, since we had so little time to talk yesterday, due to your guard's mistreatment of her and myself, and my three day kick up with her file before that, I really can't be the one to tell you shit, now can I?" I was still angry about that asshole yesterday.

Waller didn't react for a moment, almost like she didn't even hear what I had said. "Well," she started, "You'll see her later on today, but right now you're going to meet with her guardian angel."

I let out an insincere chuckle, "Oh, and here I've been thinking that was me."

Waller's face remained cold, "No. You're just someone using her for your freedom. Remember that, Deadshot. She is nothing more to you than a business arrangement."

It's like she picked her words specifically to make me feel like shit.

My lack of a response seemed to be enough for her. She didn't wait for me to think of one, "Let's get going Lawton. He's a very busy man."

I nodded and followed her out slowly.

She stopped at the threshold and met my eyes again, "Oh, and that little kiss better have been for the sake of this mission. I don't need another Rick Flag,"

All I could do was nod and hope for Harley's sake she'd let it alone.

He was taller than I remembered.

I mean, I don't remember him as a short guy, but he looked way taller standing in this room as I entered slowly, cautiously.

Maybe he actually wasn't taller. Maybe, I was just feeling three feet tall lately. I know I was supposed to ask him questions and whatnot. Hell, I'm sure I'm supposed to be angry at the asshole for humiliating me in front of my daughter, beating my ass, then sending me to this Hellhole, but I wasn't. All I had in my head was the Joker's laugh. Over and over again. That, and the sight of Harley's lifeless, dull eyes boring into mine as she took her final breath. Yeah, I definitely need to visit her today, I want to see her smile, laugh, and well, just take a successful breath.

We took a seat across from one another at this metal table. The room was completely gray and stainless steel. Definitely a room Waller uses to interrogate incoming criminals here at Belle Reve.

"Is there something on your mind, Lawton?" His enhanced, deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, Harley." Why am I telling him this?

"Well, that's why I'm here. Isn't it?" His toneless voice challenged. I honestly bet this guy was puny underneath all the armor. Probably doesn't even work out, it's all enhancement.

"Did you really save her from drowning?" It doesn't sound like a heroic thing to do, she was, and, according to most people, still is a major threat to society. On paper, she would've been better off drowning in that river. God knows, I'm thankful she didn't.

"I did. She can't swim,"

I nodded, but I didn't like his answer.

I think he could tell, because he added a follow up statement, "You don't seem satisfied." I was sure he was raising his eyebrows beneath that ridiculous mask.

"I just don't get why you would save her. She's as bad as J is." I didn't believe that, but I was almost positive the Bat did. And I wasn't gonna let on that I had any sort of feelings for Harley. Friend or otherwise.

"That's not true, and I think, in your current situation, you've learned that for yourself."

"Would you have let J drown?"

"Yes, but I would've gone in the water to make sure he was dead."

"What did you see in her, then?" I hated this son of a bitch almost as much as I hated the Joker, but I had to know.

"Same thing I saw in you. And the same thing I'm assuming you've seen in her," He didn't move much when he spoke, almost animatronic.

"Yeah? And what's that?" I was recalling my arrest, he could've killed me. Lord knows, Zoe gave him enough chances to that night, but he didn't.

"Good people who've made a few, giant mistakes along the way. I think that what you two have done in the past is horrible, but you could come back from it. That is, if you're willing to try."

"Look, you don't know me. And-"

"Are you really going to tell me that I'm wrong?" He cut me off, probably rolling his eyes beneath his mask.

I wasn't gonna argue. Mostly because I knew he was right. About Harley, at least.

"What's the story with you two, anyway?" I knew he wasn't asking for any other reason besides concern. Concern of whether or not he'd have to watch us like a hawk. He was probably concerned about the potential success I could have, and the chance of Harley and I being released back into the real world.

"I'm helping her see that she doesn't need to go through with the life that she's chosen, or even keep a commitment to J. Waller's orders," I offered with a shrug. The last thing I need is this asshat knowing I have any sort of interest in her.

"Yeah, but that's not really why you're doing this. Is it?"

"She promised to free us both if I could pull it off, so yeah. That's pretty much why I'm doing it." My tone dripped with irritation. I wanted this guy to know I hated being in the same room as his freaky ass.

"No. She promised to free you. I was informed you convinced her to allow Quinn her freedom as well." The Bat leaned back in his chair slightly, probably amazed that someone could talk Waller into anything.

"Yeah, well the only reason she would be a danger was if she was still under J's thumb. Why hold her here for no reason if she got away from all that and proved it?" I offered, hoping he wouldn't notice that I oversold myself a little bit.

"You're right. I think she's starting to know better." He nodded and seemed to be looking through me. Maybe recalling something about Harley that led him to this conclusion.

"Well, that's pretty much all I care to talk to you about, Bat." I muttered. Now that the only reason I was being remotely civil was discussed, the urge to beat his ass was starting to get to me.

He nodded stiffly, then rose to his feet.

I remained seated, mostly because if I stood up now, I'm sure I'd lose my shit. I've come this far. I just need to let him leave, and hopefully, I'll never see this mother fucker again.

He balled up a fist and banged on the metal door three crisp times. My back was to him, but I could feel his eyes on me.

I sighed deeply, my irritation growing once more, "What is it, Bat?"

"It's okay to be a Rick Flag, you know," His tone still mechanical.

I stood up slowly, holding in my anger. This guy didn't know me, and he didn't know Harley. How dare he come in here and assume things like that.

"I don't have any fucking clue what you're talking about, Bats." I muttered, trying to contain my growing anger.

He didn't move closer to me, but when the door was pushed open for him to exit, he didn't leave either. He looked me up and down, then nodded. "Keep telling yourself that, Deadshot." Then he stepped out, the door slamming behind him.

I sat back down in the metal chair, knowing it would take a guards a moment before they came in and grabbed me. Well, not guards, Flag and/or Waller. They were keeping this little mission of mine under wraps. I think they're afraid of the other inmates finding out that soon enough, Harley and I could be released.

How did the fucking Bat know? Also, how much does he know? Does Waller give him access to our files, like my access to Harley's?

I ran my hands over my bald head several times, trying to remain calm.

The door behind me unlocks and Waller steps in. I stood up and quickly spun on my heel to face her head on. She shook her head and motioned for me to retake my seat. I took a deep breath and sat back down, sensing we had a bit to talk about before I had the opportunity to see Harley again.

Before she could even open her mouth, I heard myself blurt out, "How much does that guy know?"

She raises an eyebrow at me, but her hard expression doesn't change much besides that. "About what, exactly?"

"Me, Harley, all of us," I try to keep my voice even. Maybe, if I'm calm and collected, she'll take me more seriously.

"Well he knows what we know, so essentially everything."

I nodded slowly, reminding myself to keep my cool. "He arrested me in front of my daughter,"

Her expression remained hard for a moment, but seemed to soften as she nodded, "Only the people who need to know about Zoe, know about her."

I raised an eyebrow, "No one needs to know about her, Waller." I growled, venom in my voice.

She nodded once more, "And no one that could hurt her does,"

I leaned back slightly and gave her skeptical look, "How do I know I can trust you?"

She smirked and shook her head, "You don't know that, but you've done two missions now, and have I once threatened your daughter's safety to get you to comply?"

I tilted my head, letting her response put me in a whole new perspective.

Before I could respond, she opened her bag and pulled out sizeable package. She placed it on the metal table and slid it across to me. "Zoe wrote you some more letters. I was going to save these until the job is successful completed, but I know sitting through a session with the man who put you here in the first place couldn't have been easy. So, I believe you've earned it."

I quickly snatched up the letters, afraid to have them withheld from me anymore. Instead of being angry, I just nodded slowly. I looked back up from the box of letters to Waller's eyes. "Thank you," I waved the package in her direction.

She nodded. Her small smile evaporated into her signature hardened expression. "Let's take you to visit with Quinn. Hopefully Flag's men can keep their hands off you two long enough to get a conversation in."

I let out an irritated chuckle, "Yeah, let's pray for that miracle."

She didn't say anything else, she just got up and opened the door. I took note of her unspoken expectation to follow, so I quickly got up and followed her out.

While walking next to her, I had to fight the urge to smile. Despite meeting with the bat, this day has been better than most.

We met up with Flag halfway to Harley's cell. I felt myself sigh, having to do this trade off just reiterates in my head that I have something to hide from Harley. The more I think of her, the worse about this secret I feel. Come to think of it, I've withheld so much from her. Flag was right, I needed to keep her closer.

We walked in silence. I could tell he wanted to ask about meeting Batman for the first time since my arrest, but he wasn't gonna.

"How did it go?" Flag asked after a few more awkward seconds. Huh, I stand corrected.

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, "Uh, it was pretty good. He's better than I thought he'd be,"

Flag nodded slowly, "People have a way of surprising you at times,"

I smirked a little bit, "You've surprised me a little bit,"

He chuckled slightly, "Right back at you,"

 **Next chapter: Deadshot opens up to Harley about his personal life, and they grow closer.**


	9. Domesticated

**A/N: This chapter is more fluff. I haven't put much of that in this story, and I think it'll be better if I include a chapter or two of Harley and Deadshot getting close. It'll feels more natural to me. Hope you enjoy!**

"Floyd!" Harley launched herself off her cot and ran towards the bars at the edge of her cell. I looked up and met her big blue eyes.

I didn't flat out run, I have some pride left. However, I definitely felt my steps pick up once the guards' eyes were no longer on me.

"Hey, Doll." I said as I reached the bars.

She bit her lip slightly in that way that drives me crazy before letting her smile completely overtake her face. She reached her hand through the bars and lightly stroked my cheek. I wrapped my hand over her smaller one, bringing it to my lips and planting a light kiss in her palm. Her head tilted quizzically as she as she noticed the package in my other hand.

"Oh, Floyd. Did you get me a present?" She asked teasingly, batting her eyes between mine and my package.

I chuckled slightly and dropped my head, "Nah, I'd definitely jump at the chance to get you something you'd like, if that opportunity ever arises for me."

Her smile grew slightly, but something in her eyes became impassive. Her baby blue eyes seemed to become less bright for a moment, her smile became a little rough around the edges. She was standing across from me, but for a moment, I could tell she was a million miles away. I tilted my head at her skeptically, about to ask her what was wrong. Before I could get the words out, she had snapped herself back into reality. She leaned forward. Well, as far forward as the bars would let permit her and swiftly snatched the package of letters out of my other hand. She lifted it next to her head, shaking it carefully. I watched her while she looked over the package, biting her lip and tilting her head quizzically at the package.

I watched her, part of me thinking about how beautiful she looked while she was trying to figure stuff out, the other part of me debating on whether or not I should take the package back and continue to hide Zoe from Harley. After all, Harley was a criminal. But, Hell, so was I. Also, since Midway, my opinion of her skyrocketed. She put the Squad before J, despite him being her whole world since she entered a life of crime. She also has admitted all she wanted was a family, something I'd definitely want to mend with Zoe once I finally leave this place. I felt myself smile a little wider. Yeah, Harley can know about Zoe.

She read over the return label, raising an eyebrow at the name. "Zoe Lawton?"

I nodded, dropping my head slightly, "Yeah. Zoe's my daughter,"

She was still looking down at the package, but I could see her eyes widening as they raised to meet mine. Her face was a little hard to read.

"What?" I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, "Is that a turnoff?" I was actually kinda nervous that it would be. She's expressed desire in a family, but I have to remind myself that she didn't express that desire to me, she told a shrink here at Belle Reve while she was drugged up on sedatives. She probably didn't remember it. Also, she expressed a desire to have a family with J, not me.

Her unreadable expression transformed into a smirk, "No." She shook her head slightly, "I just was thinking about how you'd probably make a good father at some point the other day."

I smirked right back at her, "Yeah. I'm a father, but probably not a great one."

She rolled her eyes at me, flipping her hair in a teasing manner, "I doubt that. If you were a shitty father, she wouldn't send ya all this stuff,"

I shrugged slightly, "It's just letters. She sent them before we went to Midway too, but Waller withheld them."

Harley's eyes were coated with empathy as she nodded. "Is that what ya asked for after Midway? Getting more access to your daughter?"

I nodded, sticking my hand on the bar in front of me, becoming stressed at the memory of finding letters from my daughter that no one ever bothered to give me.

Harley seemed to sense my emotions, so she leaned forward, putting her delicate hand overtop of mine. "Hey, Floyd. You're a good father, alright?"

I took a deep breath, but somehow believed it when it came from her mouth.

Her thumb rubbed over the back of my hand soothingly as we stood in a semi-comfortable silence for a few moments.

She pulled her hand back from mine, and handed me the package of Zoe's letters. "Well, why don't I make you an espresso? Courtesy of Amanda Waller? And you can read me some of those letters?"

She looked at me over her shoulder, her long, dyed hair draping down her back. I smiled slightly at her and nodded. "That actually sounds really great."

She smiled at me, then turned her back to me, starting on our coffees.

I turned on my heel and strode towards Flag, watching in the corner with some other guards.

Flag looked me up and down skeptically, "What is it, Lawton?"

"I'm opening up, like you said."

He nodded slightly, "You want me to open the cage?"

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, "You can shut and lock it right behind me."

He stared at me for a few moments, his face conflicted. "Waller was right, you ask for too much." He looked over at the guards and nodded. They grabbed me and escorted me to the opening of her cell, pushing me in as soon as the door was open enough to fit me. They closed and locked it behind me, and remained closer to the bars. Probably trying to make sure she and I didn't attempt to murder everyone and escape.

She had watched them let me in, but turned around as soon as the door was shut, finishing up our coffees.

I walked over to the corner of her cage where everything seemed to be. A stack of books almost as tall as Harley herself was struggling to remain upright next to her bed in the corner, a pair of fuzzy hot pink slippers were placed neatly beneath her bed, out of the way. Everything seemed a lot cleaner since I had first been to visit her, several weeks ago. The only other big change was the rather large, yet brand new, espresso machine she had received from Waller for a job well done in Midway City.

She was leaning against her espresso machine tapping her foot to the hum of the machine. Despite the fact that we're in prison, I felt pretty domestic with her. Hopefully this won't be the most settled down with her I'd ever get.

I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She let out a content sigh, resting her head on my chest.

"It's weird Flag let you in," she pondered.

"Oh," I pulled away slightly, "I can go if you want," I asked in a teasing tone.

She grabbed my forearms and yanked me back to her, "No, no. I'm liking this,"

"Well good," I kissed her temple lightly. She leaned her back into me more, and we just stood in a comfortable silence until the machine dinged. She broke our embrace to get the coffees.

She looked over at me, smiling over her shoulder.

She pointed over to her cot, "We can sit there and read these together."

I smiled at the idea and nodded as I took a seat. I began to open the package as she placed my espresso next to the cot on her stack of books and sat down, cradling hers in her dainty hands. We sat on either sides of the bed, facing each other. I opened the first letter and looked up at her. She was sipping her drink, her pinky in the air and her eyes boring into mine.

She put her drink down and licked her lips, "Is everything alright?"

I nodded, my smile growing. "I just, I'm happy to share this with you,"

She bit her lip as her signature smile formed. She reached over and plucked the letter from my hands, "Let me read this one. I like the envelope color,"

I laughed and nodded, reaching for my espresso and taking a sip.

I could get used to this.

 **Next Chapter: After reminiscing over the last several great days with Harley. Deadshot awakes in the middle of the night to Belle Reve being broken into, and Harley's cell being the focal point of the attack.**


	10. Before the Storm

**A/N: OK, so little timeline update here: this is the part at the end of the movie where you see Deadshot punching his bag and stopping to hug it at the end. It takes place a little before he is pictured doing that in the movie, and goes on up until the Joker and his men invade Belle Reve to get Harley back.**

I stretched back on my cot after another long, great day with Harley. We've been spending the last few weeks reading my letters from Zoe. Back in my cell alone, I'd still read them, soaking in every single word. Every letter I read just further proved Harley's point, Zoe still believes in me and loves me.

" _Wait, so you actually use your hitman stories to help your daughter understand math," Harley asked as she leaned back on her cot in a fit of giggles._

 _I chuckled a little myself, "Yeah it's the only way that really seems to stick for her."_

 _She laughed a little bit more, grabbing my collar and pulling me down closer to her on her cot._

 _She stared a me a little bit longer, before leaning in and giving me a short, chaste kiss._

 _I smiled into it, and when she pulled away, I tilted my head at her. "What was that for?"_

 _She stroked my cheek with her long, beautiful fingers, "For being a good father,"_

I rolled over, looking at the photos of Zoe I had taped to the wall next to my bed from previous letters. One of which was Zoe and her mother, when she was just a baby. I remembered that day, Susan was so happy to bring Zoe home that day, but lost her shit on me when I had to leave to do a job.

 _We sat across from each other on the floor of her cot, letters scattered between us. I was drinking a cup of espresso, reading over a letter Zoe had sent me around Thanksgiving a few months back. She said she ended up making ramen noodles because her mom wouldn't wake up. I let out a sigh, crumpling the letter in my fist._

 _Harley's eyes left her current novel, raising an eyebrow at me, "What is it?"_

 _I shook my head, "Nothing."_

 _She put her book down, rolling her eyes. "You just ruined a letter from your daughter. A letter you fought a metahuman for to get your hands on I might add,"_

 _I scoffed, "Who would've thought you'd be the logical one here?"_

 _She shook her head at me, "Most would, considering I have two PHds."_

 _I rolled my eyes, but nodded anyway, "I'm sorry. It's just I don't care for Zoe's mother,"_

 _Harley nodded slowly, stretching her legs out, laying them in my lap. I put the letter, now in a ball, down on the cement. I tugged on her ankles lightly, bringing Harley closer to me._

 _Her smile grew as I pulled her towards me, rubbing her feet softly once we both got a little more comfortable. However, her smile faded when she saw the crumpled letter on the floor. "Um, no. Hand it here," she challenged, extending her hand to take the letter._

 _I chuckled at her, but handed the letter over anyway. She began to unball the letter, undoing my damage. I just watched her work for a moment, rubbing her feet as we sat in a comfortable silence._

" _So tell me about her mother. What does she think of all this?" She asked without looking up from Zoe's letter._

" _Think of all what?" I knew damn well what she was talking about, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to confront the issue that is my ex wife with Harley._

 _She scoffed at that, "You know what. You old job, your relationship with Zoe, and the fact that you're in this shitty prison with horrible food."_

 _I chuckled at the last part, despite how true it is. "Well, we were married. And it didn't exactly work out,"_

 _She continued to straighten out the letter, but nodded as I spoke._

 _I think she was about to ask me to continue, but I heard myself talking without her asking. "She couldn't handle my job. I mean, the entire time she knew who I was. And at the first part of our relationship, she was fine with it. She didn't ask about it much, and if she didn't ask, I wouldn't mention it. It was almost like we coexisted in a world that was just ours. No jobs. No family issues. No drama. Just us, and eventually Zoe. But one day, after we had Zoe, she started pushing for me to get a new job and turn my life around. But I wasn't into that. She constantly pushed me into a place I wasn't comfortable being in, and she got really depressed when I wouldn't change."_

 _Harley didn't look up, but nodded slightly, tilting her head slightly once I finished my story. "Would you quit if Zoe asked you to?"_

 _I nodded, "I like to think so. But there's nothing quite like that, you know? Doing stuff like that is insane and awful, I know that much. Also, there's just this way about it. It makes you feel-"_

" _Special. Complete." She finished my sentence with a far off look in her eye._

 _I nodded, watching her finish fixing the letter I ruined, "No one's ever understood that before now,"_

 _She took a deep breath, her face remaining impassive as she handed me the almost perfect letter, "I only understand because we're both fucked up on the same level,"_

I rolled over and sat up, swinging my feet over the edge of my cot. Despite talking about some really heavy shit with her, I felt like it only made things between us better.

 _We were laying down side by side on her little cot in her cage. My eyes were shut, but I couldn't sleep here, too many people watching. I thought for awhile maybe Harley had fallen asleep. It wouldn't surprise me, considering how she has the most people watching her out of all of us here, and has no privacy whatsoever. She let out a deep breath._

" _I killed Jason," She mumbled in a tone I hadn't heard out of Harley Quinn in my whole life._

 _I opened my eyes and looked over at her. "Jason?"_

 _She nodded, tears freely flowing._

 _I rolled over to face her, sitting up quickly. "Whoa, whoa. What's going on, Dollface?"_

 _She didn't move or attempt to look at me, she just stared at the top of her cage, silent tears falling. I took her hand and squeezed it, but she didn't hold onto mine._

" _Robin. I killed Robin," her voice broke a little bit, she sounded so guilty._

 _I squeezed her hand and nodded. I didn't really know what to say. I hated that punk, always up Batman's ass. When I got word he died though, I remember feeling sorry for him and his family, even Bats. He was just a kid._

" _I heard the Joker was the one behind it,"_

 _She shook her head, "No. Mistah J didn't kill him. He tortured him. And it was completely my fault,"_

 _I felt myself wince at that statement, but I didn't seem to get what she was saying. "Why'd you kill him?"_

 _She shook her head, tears falling but not as fast. "I was the one that captured him. I thought Mistah J was just gonna use him to get to Batsy. He's always been obsessed with getting Batsy. I just wanted to make him happy," her tears were less, but her words came out muffled, like she was trying to suppress sobs. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into my lap and cradling her as cried, attempting to get herself together. "He was pretty happy about it. He told me he was gonna get Batsy where it hurt. So he started to beat him pretty bad. One day, I told him not to. Jason was just a kid, ya know? Kids deserve mercy."_

 _She leaned away from me a little bit, so when I looked down I could get a full view of her face. Her eyes were pale blue and empty. Her face looked whiter than the unnatural pale she normally sported. Haunted almost._

I got up, shaking my head angrily at the thought of this memory. I trudged toward the boxing bag, something I haven't touched since I got this assignment. Before I could think, I just started punching as hard as I could. Each word replaying in my head just refueled the fire.

" _Harley. What happened when you told him not to hurt Robin?"_

 _She took a deep breath, "He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me to the floor. He kicked me in the stomach over and over again. Until Jason told him to stop."_

 _I felt my fists ball up, but I kept the anger at bay. She needed to get this out. "He left me there to deal with Jason. He broke my baseball bat and used the jagged edges to carve "sellout" into his forehead. He broke his ankles and wrists. Nearly beat him to death right there. Then left us there laughing."_

 _I let out a deep sigh, "We can stop if you want." I secretly hoped she would, I hated hearing about this. But if she needed to let it out, I'd listen._

 _She shook her head, "That night, I was trying to pull myself up off the floor. Once I did, I helped him up. We sat on the floor in the dark for awhile. I couldn't leave because the door was locked. He told me I deserved better. I told him he did too. He said I could make it up to him. So I shot him in the head. Mercy."_

 _I nodded absentmindedly, "That's better than what J would've done. You're a much better person than he is. I'm proud of you for that."_

" _I killed someone who was just a kid, Floyd." her tears began to fall again._

 _I pulled her back to me, hugging her tight. "You had mercy. You had a morale compass. I'm sure he forgives you,"_

My blind anger was being transferred into this bag. I honestly think I could've broken it, but I stopped after awhile. I began to see the bag as Harley. God knows J treated her like one. My punching stopped altogether, and I pulled the bag into a hug.

I stood there for awhile, holding the bag for several moments. It was pretty peaceful. Well, until an explosion sounded and knocked my on my ass.

The explosion sounded like it came from the main area of the prison. Where Harley's cage is.

I pushed myself up and walked towards the door, ready to look out the open area. I raised my fist to knock, hoping a guard would at least tell me what was going on. I didn't like this feeling.

I hit the door and it popped open, much to my surprise.

Flag stepped back, ducking out of the way of my accidental punch.

His face went from surprised to grim, "He's here, Lawton. It's time to see if it worked,"

 **A/N: Next chapter: An angry Waller and Flag bring Floyd from his cell to watch the Joker and Harley escape together. Batman returns.**


	11. Refusal

**A/N: Ok, so I worked really hard on this chapter. I also tried to look up history of Harleen becoming Harley. How the whole transition went and whatnot.**

"You better have done all we asked of you, Deadshot," Waller commanded icily.

"We were a bit surprised he came back so quickly," Flag informed me, his unsure tone breaking through his cool exterior.

"So, what? Is he already in?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant as they lead me down multiple hallways. It looked like we weren't going through the main part of the prison. To go anywhere, in or out, you have to pass through the room holding Harley's cell. This must be a back way Waller uses so Harley, and the rest of the squad don't see her and suspect anything.

"No. There are several barriers," Flag started, holding another door open for Waller and I. "He and his men have made it through a few and have located the area we are holding Quinn," Waller and Flag picked up speed. It took me by surprise to see two people that love to play God look so unsettled. I had trouble catching up and bringing back my cool and collected facade. Truth be told, I was nervous as Hell. Not because of what Harley would do, but because of what J would do when she refused him. He doesn't seem like someone that would let her go without a fight.

Another explosion sounded, causing me to stumble slightly. Flag grabbed Waller quickly, steadying her as she lost her balance due to the explosion. She gave him a stern nod. I guess that's the closest thing to gratitude that Waller will express.

"Why don't we just move her?" I shouted over the alarm sounding throughout the prison. The solution seemed so simple.

Waller looked over her shoulder at me as she picked up her pace. "The Joker would still hunt her down. Too many people would die. If she remains, the deaths will be minimal." She stated matter of factly.

"She's still a person, Waller." I challengers, struggling to keep up.

Flag looked over his shoulder at me, shaking his head sympathetically.

The alarm lights were creating a low, red glow throughout the hallway, but the sound had stopped abruptly. We all stopped in our tracks, looking around slowly.

An explosion sounded a little farther away, causing us all to look at one another.

"Harley," we all stated in unison.

We jogged down the hall, Waller and Flag in front of me, leading me up a flight of stairs and through a doorway. It was the office where the security guards watch us through cameras. The office directly above Harley's cell room. I've been here once before, when I first had to see Waller about fixing Harley almost two months ago. I noticed Bats was back, sitting in the what was formally a video security guards chair.

I rolled my eyes, "What the flying fuck are you doing back?" I scoffed at him as he stood up.

Except, he didn't walk towards me, he walked towards the glass. Flag and Waller looked out as well. I followed suit.

Harley was standing with her hands up, cornered in her cage. Men in SWAT uniforms had removed the bars, and one of them ran in to get closer to her. Harley looked a little nervous and completely unsure of the situation she was faced with. The man they sent in approached her slowly, like she was a scared animal.

"Is that him?" I asked. My tone sharper than I intended.

No one answered. If it was because no one really knew, or that we were all dying to see what was gonna happen I'm not really sure. But no one said anything. We just watched.

The man revealed his helmet to reveal green hair and pasty skin.

I let out a deep, uneasy sigh. That was the only noise within the entire room. Harley didn't even seem to move for a moment or so. Her face studying his, her eyes taking in every inch before moving or speaking.

Her lips twitched slightly upwards, before an entire smile evolved through her face.

I saw Waller shake her head out of the corner of my eye, "This doesn't look like it's going over the way I hoped for."

I didn't respond, but I could tell her smile wasn't that real. Too rough around the edges. She didn't bite her lip before it formed, like usual. I tilted my head at her, smirking. She looked up at the glass, almost as if she knew I was watching, then back at J.

"Puddin!" She exclaimed cheerily, before jumping into his arms.

J caught her in his arms and picked her up, her legs dangling as he lifted her into the air, causing her pink fuzzy slippers to fall off.

"Let's go home," He stated, it sounded more like a command than anything else. Harley giggled less than excitedly as he put her down.

He tiled his head at her, "What is it, baby?" Listening to him speak, all I could hear was manipulation.

"I don't know if I wanna," She responded quietly as she backed up, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

He stared at her blankly for a moment, his smile fading slightly.

"Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby," He half laughed half grunted, "Come on." He commanded as he walked towards her, his hand gripping her upper arm, and yanking her up off her bed.

She stumbled slightly, but yanked her arm out of his grasp, "No, Puddin. I don't wanna,"

He was stunned slightly by her unwillingness to coporate. She took a few steps back and sat back down on her bed. She scooted back all the way back on her bed, her back against one of the bars.

"Okay J's gonna leave. So send me down there," I started towards the door, but was stopped by Bats gripping my arm.

I yanked my arm outta his grip, "Don't fucking touch me,"

Bats shook his head, "Just watch. If you provoke him, I'm not sure what'll happen."

I nodded, but rolled my eyes at my helplessness. I don't want her getting hurt. And I don't want to just sit here watching her get hurt.

"I said no!" Harley's shouts snapped us out of little altercation.

His hand was at her throat, his body leaning over hers.

I banged on the window. "Someone better stop this!" I shouted to no one in particular.

She looked up at the window, J's hand still on her throat. Her face contorted into a smirk as she stared up at the mirror glass. I really hoped she could at least sense I was here for her.

She brought her legs to her chest, forcing them into his chest and kicking him back. Hard.

He stumbled back, she pushed herself up off her bed and ran by J as he hit the hard cement ground on his back.

He rolled over onto his stomach, grabbing her ankle as she ran and yanking her to the floor. The fall took her off guard, so he used it as an advantage. He jumped up quickly, grabbing her by her long dyed hair and dragging her brutally across the floor of her cage. As he was dragging her, laughing with every step, she grabbed a jagged, broken piece of her coffee cups and jabbed it into the back of his heel as hard as she could. He let out what sounded like groan mixed with a laugh. Harley pushed herself up, her classic, psychotic grin plastered on her face as she pinned him to the ground by straddling him, her knees keeping his wrists on the cement floor. She drew her fist back to punch him and hit him several times. Hard. She drew her fist back once more, but stopped, lowering her fist and standing up, leaving him to lay on the floor for a moment.  
"What the hell is she thinking? She could finish him right now!" Waller yelled, pressing her hands against the glass window separating us from the crazy clown duel below. I ran a hand over my head, nervous for the outcome. I leaned forward, like the rest of us up in the office, my eyes were glued to Harley, hoping she wouldn't get hurt.  
"You're too weak to do it, baby." The Joker spat, gobs of blood dripping from his nose.  
"No," she shook her head. "I loved you once. I still do, Mistah J. But you destroyed me, and I let ya. No more,"  
He looked up at her and for a moment, it looked like J saw his world unraveling. The lost look in his eyes disappeared as quickly as it developed, leaving nothing but the empty, raspy laughter he's trademarked.  
He raised his arms up feebly, "Okay! You've got me! So what next, Harley?" He bellowed in a dangerously deranged tone.  
She crossed her arms over her chest, "I want you to go,"  
I looked over at Waller and Bats. Waller's lips had formed a thin line, but I could tell she was on the edge of her seat for this. Bats, however, was sporting a rare seen smirk, probably happy seeing Harley with some decency in her again. I was still pretty nervous, not trusting J to walk out without trying to get the upper hand one last time.  
Harley backed away from him, watching closely as he stood up, hands above his head and smiling like a lunatic.  
He limped closer to her as she backed up more. Her back was pinned against the bars, her front against J. She looked away from him, up at the office window like she knew we were there. Her expression looked worn out, her eyes almost tearful. He tilted his head at her as he gripped her chin between his fingers and tugged her face back in his direction.  
I felt my fists ball up, an uneasy feeling growing in my gut.  
"I don't like this," I muttered, my eyes not leaving Harley.  
Bats grunted, "I agree."  
Waller put her hand up, "Wait for it. This is where we see if you did your part, Deadshot." She looked over at me with an icy stare.  
I sighed, but didn't say anything. I hoped she wouldn't leave with him. More for her sake than my own.  
"Baby, do you really want me to go?" He was close to her face, his voice full of false hurt and manipulation.  
Her lower lip trembled, tears on the verge, but she nodded.  
He put his hands up defensively and took a few steps back.  
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Something still felt off though. I'd never had to face off against J, but I've heard many stories. From all these stories, I never once heard of J walking away. I looked over at Bats, someone who knows just how far I will go firsthand.

As if he was reading my mind, "No," his eyes not leaving the clowns below us. "He doesn't just walk away,"

Waller nodded, "He's got something planned. This seemed too easy,"

I looked back at the two, J backing away and Harley standing a little taller than she was moments ago, but not as confident as the aura she usually carries herself within.

"Send me in there. I can put down his crew in seconds and y'all know that," I started, my tone almost a low growl. I didn't want her getting hurt. Sitting here watching wasn't ideal either.

"No. If you run in to save her, he'll kill everyone, including you two. We just have to wait," Waller commanded.

I sighed, but stayed put anyway.

The Joker backed up, but Harley didn't move from her spot leaning against the cage wall. Her head was tilted, skeptical of J's actions. She was watching him closely, waiting for him to do or say anything else.

J gave her a smile and turned on his heel, heading for the opening in the cage he had created.

For a moment, it seemed everything was still. Waller moved in slow motion, telling Flag to send a guard into the area to grab Harley. Bats moved in slow motion, attempting to stop her. Everything moved in slow motion, until a single guard entered the room, interrupting J's exit.

"Harley Quinn, I am here to-" A single shot rang out. I felt myself flinch, considering I wasn't watching the window at the time. I didn't look for a moment, praying that it wasn't Harley that was on the receiving end of that shot.

We all looked back down to see the guard shot dead on the spot. Harley was looking behind her, her face thoughtful.

I raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Harley had a plan.

"I was about to say I wouldn't do that if I were you," Harley said as she turned around, J's gun pointed in her face.

She raised her hands up, a teasing smile forming on her face. "Don't hurt me," She laughed, "I'll be your friend,"

The Joker raised his eyebrows and scoffed, "You said it yourself, Baby. We're not friends anymore,"

Harley's face turned cold, "Then do it,"

I felt myself flinch slightly. I didn't like this.

"What the Hell is she thinking?" Flag exclaimed, leaning towards the glass.

Waller stepped towards the glass as well, pressing her hands against it, "I have no fucking clue," Her expression was hard.

Bats hung back a little bit, his eyes were curious, his jaw set in place.

She was walking towards J, the gun still in her face. She seemed to have gotten the upper hand. Only slightly, though. You had to look really closely to see the slight loss of confidence in his eyes.

"Do. It." She challenged, stepping closer to J, causing him to step back.

"What are you trying to pull here, Harley?" J bellowed, his demoner falling slightly.

"Do it, Mistah J!" Her voice got louder, almost angry.

She snatched the gun from his grasp and laughed tauntingly at the stunned Joker.

She stared at the gun for a moment, then looking back up at J.

"I was right about you, Puddin," She growled with a smirk, shoving the gun back to his chest.

He held the gun against his chest and stared at her weakly for a moment, before raising an eyebrow and plastering on a fake, confused smile.

"A heart still scares ya, J. Cause you won't shoot mine," she let out a wink as she walked past him towards the back part of her cell, bumping his shoulder as she did.

His eyes were lost for a moment. He didn't even move.

"Bats, what's happening?"

Batman's jaw was tense, his eyes fixed on the clown. "I-I don't know,"

J's eyes became hard and angry once again. He spun on his heel, reaching out and grabbing the ends of Harley's long hair. He yanked her head back towards him.

"Oh baby, guns don't scare me anymore," he hissed in her ear and grabbed her shoulders, spinning her around to face him.

She stumbled slightly due to J's harsh movements, but couldn't regain her composure before J took his pistol and slammed the butt of it against Harley's head. She her body crumpled under the force of his blow to her face.

She weakly tried to push herself up, a spiteful smile forming on her face.

"Still didn't shoot me," she growled, spitting out some blood.

He scoffed slightly, rolling his eyes. "You're not who I thought you were, Harleen." He stressed her real name for dramatic effect.

"Get me down there!" I yelled at Waller, who had ordered Flag to stop me from leaving after I had to watch J pistol whip my girlfriend across the face.

J walked around her body. She could barely lift herself up, but she forced out a strained chorus of giggles, "You're not who I thought you were either. Pussy," she spat blood out as she stressed the last word as he had stressed her real name.

This made him stop in his tracks. His smile faded and he ran his hands through his hair slowly, fixing the pieces that had been distorted during their fight. He then looked down at her, smirking and shaking his head.

"You know," he grabbed her hair in his fist once more. This time, it was closer to her head. He yanked her neck in his direction so hard I was afraid it would snap in two. "You're still just a pain in my ass,"

She smiled back at him, eyes burning with resistance, "What are ya gonna do? Ya gonna kill me this time, Mistah J?" her voice sounding haunted.

"Nah, baby. I not gonna kill you," he started as he gripped her hair tighter. His eyes bored into hers once more, "I'm just gonna hurt ya. Really, really bad." he finished venomously as he slammed her head down onto the hard concrete floor. He let go of her hair, now stained with the metallic red color of her blood. Rubbing his hands on his pants, as if disgusted with dirt on them, he whistled and rounded up his crew. They all exited out of the giant, gaping hole in the wall they had created not too long ago.

Although, I didn't much care for that. My only concern was the blonde clown that had finally faced her demons, and stood up to them too. The blonde clown that was laying on the hard floor, unmoving with her head bleeding heavily.

 **Next Chapter: Waller brings doctors in to work on Harley, whose condition has worsened. Boom and Croc find out about Deadshot's "mission," and they don't like it. Zoe is brought to Belle Reve to see her father.**


	12. Call It a Misfire

A/N: This Chapter is longer. And, disclaimer: I haven't read much of the comics, so Deadshot's actions in this chapter might be different based off his comics personality than what I've written. I went off of what I thought he'd do based off the movie. I hope y'all enjoy. Also, there's more interactions with the other members of the Suicide Squad.

I sat outside Belle Reve's makeshift infirmary. It was essentially another cell, a larger one, with a couple hospital beds and medical equipment. I always suspected the doctors and nurses here of not being actual doctors and nurses, just guards that couldn't get a job in a real hospital. I feel like my assumptions of the medical staff were correct, since Waller and Flag had two doctors and four nurses from a emergency center in New Orleans come in to work on Harley. They wouldn't let me in to see her, once they got here. Even before, Flag and Bats held me back as Waller and some of the medical staff and guards approached her cell slowly, lifting her limp body onto a stretcher, and carrying her out of my view.

I didn't remember yelling, but I do remember hearing the chorus of desperate "no's," that escaped my lips fill up the office.

I didn't remember beating onto the window we had all watched the altercation between Harley and the Joker moments before, but the glass was shattered in two places relatively close together. My knuckles were bruised from punching the glass too, parts of my hands cut up in places due to falling, spare pieces of glass.

I don't really remember Bats leaving, but he didn't stay long after the real doctors arrived, assuring Waller that Harley could pull through. It's not like Waller actually cares, it's just if Harley's dead, the squad is significantly weaker.

I remember hearing him tell Flag he'd be back, but he was going to attempt to track down the Joker before he returned to Gotham. He said it would be easier to capture him so far from home, because his resources and crew were more limited outside of his home city. His, and formerly Harley's, clown kingdom.

I had been sitting here for a while, unsupervised. I guess when the prison is raided and an inmate's life is hanging in the balance, they don't pay much attention to the other ones. Especially since Boom and Croc came around the corner of the prison hall, faces etched with concern. Boom's face was paler than before. Croc's usual deadly, toothy snarl was replaced with a closed-mouth, solemn expression. His black eyes looking me up and down, probably trying to put together why I was so broken up about Harley's current state-whatever it may be.

Boom stepped around him and bent down, putting his hand out to mine. I stared at him for a moment, before taking it and allowing him to pull me to my feet.

"Let's take a walk, shall we?" He asked in an off put sort of tone. One I hadn't heard from him before.

I looked him over skeptically, but there was something about the way he was carrying himself that made me agree. Like he had something important to tell me.

I nodded slowly, but looked back at the closed door to the infirmary, reluctant to leave without knowing the status of Harley.

Croc patted me on the shoulder, his naturally superior strength catching me off guard and causing me to stumble a couple steps forward.

"Don't worry, man. I'll wait to hear word for you," his deep, reptilian voice trying to provide some form of reassurance.

I nodded and gave a weak smile. I hoped he'd take that as a thanks; there's not much else I can muster from myself at this point. He seemed to understand, or I guess he did. He didn't say anything else, or press for what had happened. He just sat down on the floor in front of the doorway, exactly where I was moments ago.

I stared at him for a moment longer, but ultimately went in the opposite direction with Boom. I met his stride easily. His stocky, solid build was only faulted by his short legs, All the squad members are taller than him, minus the ninja girl. I looked over at me out of the corner of his eye several times as we were walking. I was starting to get an uneasy feeling from him. What did he want? I hadn't seen him, let alone talked to him, since our mission in Midway. I mean, yeah, he's been here, but the only person I've been granted permission to see is Harley. I doubt they let Boom out, considering he was just captured.

"How did you guys get out? Did J open up your cell?" Our speed increased slightly, but I eyed him skeptically.

"The Joker? He was here?" He hissed as he stopped in his tracks, looking up and down the secluded area of the hallway.

I nodded slowly, not understanding why he wanted to talk if he didn't know what happened. "Yeah. That's why the prisons in shitty shape,"

"Yeah, I noticed." He stated darkly, "We were taken from our cells and they were searched. Is that why you're out?" He looked me up and down curiously.

I shrugged slightly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah. Something like that,"

He nodded, looking around before reaching behind his back and pulling out a bag. "Well, while they were searching my room, Croc got my unicorn out before they could confiscate it. So I thought, about your cell. All your letters from ya kid and whatnot, and decided to go get 'em for ya," He handed me the bag of what I'm now assuming are my letters from Zoe.

I looked down at it, feeling myself smile a little in spite of the situation. "Thanks Boom, it means a lot."

He nodded and looked down at his feet as he spoke again, "Yeah, but I also found something else."

I tilted my head at him in confusion, "What was it?"

He pulled out a thick, stained file from the front pocket in his orange prison Belle Reve button up. "Why do you have a file for the squad's own crazy glue, huh?"

I took it from him, but looked down at my feet for a moment. Whether it was the shame of having to explain what I was originally doing for Harley.

He wasn't satisfied with my lack of a response. "What'd ya do, Deadshot?" he barked.

"It was something for Waller. I was chosen to-"

"You turned on your own for Waller? What the Hell is wrong with you, mate?" His voice was still at a low whisper, but it was full of malice as he put a finger to my chest harshly.

"Look, I only agreed when Waller said she'd let Harley go free if it worked as well. I have a kid, okay? A kid with a shitty mom that has to take care of herself. Waller's gonna help me give her a better life," I smacked his hand away from my chest.

He took a step back, nodding but still eyeing me skeptically. "So what'd she have ya do?"

I looked around the halls, afraid of someone hearing. I didn't want this to get back to Harley. "She wanted me to fix her. Form a kinda connection with her. Make her feel safe and cared for. Show her that there's more to her life than just following around J. Waller wanted me to convince her to refuse him once he came here to get her back,"

Boom didn't say anything for a moment. He looked as though he was considering my words carefully. After a minute, he nodded slowly, "I'm gonna assume ya plan worked?"

I nodded slowly, my starting to ache with worry. "She refused him,"

He cocked an eyebrow at me, "So what's the big fuss about now?"

I dropped my head, "He beat the shit out of her for it."

He let out a deep sigh, running his thick fingers through his hair. "Is she gonna be alright?"

I still looked down, unable to meet his eyes. I took a deep breath, "I really hope so,"

He patted my shoulder reassuringly, "She'll be alright. She's too eccentric to let a run in with an ex kill her,"

I nodded slowly, "I feel like I caused this," I admitted, finally looking him in the face.

"Well," he took his hand off my shoulder and rubbed the back of his neck, "Did ya just manipulate her?"

I shook my head, "What do you mean?"

"Was none of it real, to ya? It really seems like ya care deeply for her. If it was all fake, you wouldn't be losing ya shit the most," He tilted his head at me, probably hoping to God his assumption was right.

"Yeah. I mean at first, it was just because of my daughter. I felt better about helping her than I did killing her,"

"Hence why you missed your shot back in Midway," He finished thoughtfully.

I rubbed my chin, frustrated with myself, "I didn't feel comfortable pretending to love her like Flag pretended to love Dr. Moon,"

Boom put his hands up, "Wait, Waller had Flag pretend to love that girl? He waged war to win her back, how is that fake?"

I put my hand up weakly, hoping to stop his questioning long enough to finish my story. "He pretended at first, but it developed. Which, I guess, is kinda what happened with us."

"Are you saying that you love her?" Boom asked, his tone an unfamiliar one.

I didn't say anything for a moment, considering my options. Instead of giving him a response, I just dropped my head once more, setting my gaze onto the blood that had dried into the cracks on the old, concrete floor. I felt a wave of nausea hit me as I realized the blood was probably Harley's. Flag and I followed the medical team as they wheeled her down this hall.

"Shot, Harley said it best back in Midway. People like us don't get normal. Diablo had it, and he murdered them. You had a shot with it, now her life's hanging in the balance. Also, you have a child, let's throw that into the mix here." His voice was firm, but empathetic.

"She wants normal. She wanted it with J, but she realized he'd never give that to her. He would never give her anything real. Especially if he wasn't getting something in return. That's all she knew before me."

"And you're the king of real, true love and compassion? You do know you killed blokes for a living, remember?" He countered, eyebrows raised.

"Like you're much better," I spat back, getting angry. "Like any of us are much better. That's why I feel right being around her. She doesn't pretend she's any better or any worse than the rest of us. We're all here for a reason. We've done some pretty fucked up shit,"

"Yeah," he scoffed. "Some worse than others,"

I rolled my eyes, "Do you really think out of every criminal that's had a runin with Bats, Harley and I are the absolute worst?"

He took a moment before saying anything. Probably trying to pick his words carefully. "No. Honestly, I saw loyalty in you back in Midway. I don't know how many blokes would spare someone they've never really met if their freedom was on the line. Also, she lost her friend. That asshole may be batshit crazy, but he was her whole world. She let him go, thought he was dead. And didn't take the chance to get him back because she wanted to save the rest of us." he took a deep breath, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, "So yeah. If any of us deserves a second chance, it oughta be you two."

I nodded, patting his shoulder as a sign of thanks, "I just hope she lives long enough to get her second chance," I took a deep breath, "I was so concerned with myself. I never considered him coming back so soon and her being left there to fend for herself. I thought this was my last shot to get Zoe back for good, I never thought she'd be the one to pay for it,"

Boom had been looking past me, probably watching guards walk the halls, nervous of them finding us and confiscating our things. But with my previous statement, he ripped his gaze back to me, shaking his head firmly. "J's a loose cannon. We all knew that if she ever refused, he'd lose it. It's not your fault she gained some respect for herself. And it's not your fault he tried to end her for that. This wasn't your last shot," He let out a strained, exasperated laugh, "Lord forbid this was your last shot at a normal life, because anyone can see this shot was a fucking misfire."

My voice, hoarse from worry, forced out a chuckle. Instead of arguing, I conceded to his miniature lecture with a nodd and a weak smile. I didn't really know what to do here. I wasn't much for bonding so personally with teammates. We did bond back in the bar when we took down Enchantress, but to be fair, I thought we were all dead. This time around, it wasn't mine or Boom's safety on my mind. It was hers.

He seemed to sense my longing to get back to check on her, so he patted my shoulder as he passed me. I followed his movements suit, but lingered behind as we headed back to the infirmary, trying to collect my thoughts. Was she really gonna be okay? Everyone seems to think so. Harley may be insane, but she's resilient. She had to be, considering most of her life as a criminal has been under the influence of the clown prince. All I could really do now was wait.

Croc stood as we approached, his scaley face virtually unreadable. But what else is new?

"She's out of surgery, but not awake yet. They'll know if she's responsive when she wakes up." His massive body heaved out a deep breath before continuing, "If she wakes up."

I let out a sigh, but nodded. "Thanks,"

He glanced at me, before looking back at Boom. "Don't mention it,"

Boom patted me on the back, "Let us know if you need anything."

I smirked at the two of them slightly, "I appreciate it,"

Croc let out what I could only guess is a crocodile's version of a smirk, "Like I said, don't mention it,"

Boom chuckled slightly before adding, "Ever." Finishing Croc's thought.

I slumped back down on the ground outside the door. Truthfully, I was exhausted. Harley had been in there for hours, but it felt like days. Also, where the fuck was Bats? Ninety nine percent of my fucking life I don't want him around, but he's there. Now, when I really wanna know if he got ahold of the asshat that put Harley's life in danger, Bats is nowhere to be found. I let my head fall into my hands, thinking of giving into sleep for a little while. I decided against it. My mind wouldn't stop racing. So many things had happened. I had this urge to take my guns and kill every single guard, every single person here until I felt better. Truthfully, the only shit that is gonna make this right is a time machine. I want to go back to when Waller made me stand in that crummy office and watch J slam her head into the pavement. I would've knocked Waller's vindictive ass out and killed J before he could've laid a hand on Harley. I couldn't stand to look at any of them. The guards. The medical teams. Flag. Waller. They all were in on this, let me do this stupid thing. Now Harley could very well be dead right now, and I'm not leaving Belle Reve without her. It wouldn't be fair.

"Deadshot?" A young woman in blood stained scrubs stepped out. My ears, along with the rest of my body, perked up. I launched myself into a standing position, surprised at my remaining energy.

"Yes? I'm him," I muttered, trying to make my hoarse voice sound more confident. But let's face it, my pride is fucked right now.

"She's still asleep, but you can see her now. Ms. Waller gave us permission to let you know,"

I felt myself nod. Of course Waller had the reins on this one. After my reaction to the Joker hurting Harley, she knows now what she originally asked me to fake became real. I remember right after J left the prison, Waller stopped me from going to her.

 _She put her hand up to my chest. She's a lot stronger than you'd think. Or maybe it was her confidence that just put me in my place. Either way, her sudden strength shocked me into submission._

" _Stay_ , _Deadshot_." _Her_ _voice_ _was hard, almost as if she doesn't care about Harley down there, unconscious and alone._

 _"She's hurt, Waller." I growled, my tone deadly._

 _"Remember your place here, Deadshot." She commanded._

 _"Fuck you, she's still human." I spat back, sidestepping her and heading for the door._

 _"Deadshot!" Her booming voice was a mixture of anger and hate._

 _"What?" I spun around on my heel, fists balled up at my sides. "What could you possibly want from me now, huh?"_

 _"Watch your tone with me." She bellowed, "I still hold your freedom and your kid in the palm of my hand. Oh, and now that I know you're just as soft as I feared, I can just use as another weakness of yours I can exploit.." she declared darkly, her face set in stone. "Stay here. I'll get you when we're ready. Unless, you don't want her getting the medical care she desperately needs," she finished with a cocked eyebrow and an icy glare._

 _I threw my hands up in frustration, but let Waller pass. When she left, I punched the glass on the window beside me. Over and over._

I rubbed my knuckles at the memory, but nodded and let the nurse escort me in.

There was a chair setup next to her bed. Whether it was planned for me to sit there or not, I plotted myself in it and just stared, trying to take it all in.

There was a breathing tube in her mouth, gauze haphazardly wrapped around the top of her head, parts of it completely red from blood seeping through, one of her eyes was swollen and turning purple as well. Her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling in a pretty shallow way, like breathing was difficult. I wanted to believe that she was just asleep. She was just taking a normal nap and would be up anytime now. Which, kinda was the case. The doctors had said that she could wake up at anytime, in like ten seconds, or in like ten days. Or, not at all. I rested my elbows on the side of her bed I was sitting close to, dropping my head and allowing my hands to run over it. I took a deep breath, guilt weighing on every breath like a stack of bricks on my chest.

"I'm so sorry," I started, grabbing her hand, knotting my fingers through her limp ones. "I never meant for this to happen to you. I-I just thought your life would be better without him. I should have never let you face him alone. If I had known he'd-"

"Face who alone, daddy?" A childish, familiar voice cut through my monologue Harley probably couldn't even here.

I dropped her hand quickly, pushing myself out of the chair and turning around to see my daughter, Zoe, standing in Belle Reve. She was looking around, taking in the shit show her father now lives in carefully. Flag stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, looking sheepish once he met my eyes.

Instead of getting angry they brought her here, I felt myself drop to my knees and open my arms. Zoe ran into them, hugging me tightly, I returned it, and let silent tears fall. I hoped Flag couldn't see me upset, but I was too exhausted to care.

Zoe pulled away, but still had me at her arm's length. She tilted her head, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Instead of asking why I was so upset, she hugged me once more.

"Don't cry, Daddy," she murmured with concern in her soft voice.

"Yeah, don't cry, Daddy," a raspy, Bronx accented voice cut through my moment with my kid. My ears perked up, before looking over at the hospital bed, my eyes found Flag. He looked at the bed and back at me before striding over to it with wide eyes.

I stood up, letting go of Zoe besides her hand that naturally found mine once we parted and looked at the bed to see Harley, clear tube hanging loosely from her mouth and she let out a cheeky smile, struggling to sit up.

I must've looked ridiculous as Hell, spare tears falling as I let out a giant smile and a chuckle filled with relief.

Next Chapter: Harley and Deadshot are sent to an actual hospital, since they are freed and want to work on her recovery. Zoe gets to know Harley and inquires about her relationship with her father.


	13. She's Not Rotten

**A/N: This is going to be the last chapter of this story. It's going to be the first in a multi-part series. It's going to be called "Truth Be Told,"**

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Harley was asleep once more, on a much better bed, in a much better place. She was awake long enough to have a few short conversations and to be released from Belle Reve along with myself.

 _Flag had taken Zoe to the main area of the prison, giving Harley and I some room to talk. She had just woken up, her breathing tube had been removed too. She rubbed her eyes, wincing slightly when her hand lightly connected with her black eye, courtesy of J._

 _I tilted my head at her, trying to suppress a sympathetic look, knowing she'd resent me for being too soft on her._

" _How are you feeling?" I inquired, already knowing the answer._

" _I should be asking you that, Floyd," she said as she struggled to sit upright, voice mildly concerned._

 _I chuckled slightly, "I'm fine, Dollface. I just hate seeing you like this," I admitted._

 _She nodded as she leaned forward to rubbed the side of my face lightly with her small hands. "Is that really it?" She tilted her head at me, basically reading the guilt burnt in my eyes._

 _I moved from my spot on the edge of her bed, back into the metal chair. I ran my hand over my bald head and took a deep breath, "I feel like I caused this,"_

 _She rolled her eyes. Her tone teasing and soothing all at once, "You didn't though, Muffin."_

 _I shook my head, swallowing my fears of telling her the truth. "No, I had something to do with this."_

 _She grabbed my hand, opening her mouth to speak. Before she could, I started to talk again. I needed to get this out, before I pussied out of it. "A few months ago, Waller came to me for another mission,"_

 _Harley sat up a little bit straighter, nodding and squeezing my hand in support._

" _And, the mission was just for me," I took a deep breath, "She wanted me to get to know you, watch over you, and show you a better life. Basically to show you you could have-"_

 _She dropped my hand quickly, folding them in front of her chest defensively. "A life without Mistah J," she finished._

 _I nodded slowly, trying to get my voice even to continue. "My intention was never to manipulate you. I just wanted you to be happy on your own-"_

" _What did she promise you, Deadshot?" she mumbled, not meeting my eyes._

 _I dropped my head, "Freedom, my kid."_

 _She shook her head quickly. However, she stopped abruptly when blood started flowing through her bandages once more._

 _I tried to put my hands near her head to stop the bleeding, "Whoa, Dollface. Let me get a nurse," I offered as I stood up, walking slowly towards the door. My eyes weren't leaving her though._

 _She nodded quickly, "Get one on your way out,"_

 _I stopped abruptly, "Do they not want other inmates in here when you're being treated?"_

 _She shrugged, "I dunno, Shot." She spat, "I just know I don't want you in here,"_

I sat in the New Orleans Medical Center on a plush couch-bench-thing with Zoe asleep on my shoulder. I rubbed my eyes drowsily, the harsh memory from a few hours ago waking me up more. I stretched my arms carefully as to not wake her up. Harley should be able to have visitors anytime now. These few hours of waiting have been a good reflection time.

 _Flag and I were sitting in a vacant hallway of Belle Reve. Zoe was between us, playing a game on her iPhone with her earbuds in._

" _How'd she take it?" He asked, looking at me over Zoe's curly hair._

 _I didn't look back at him, my eyes fixed on a crack in the wall in front of me. "She told me to leave, after her head started bleeding out again."_

 _Flag nodded slowly, looking back over at the wall in front of him as well. "Did you tell her you about getting Waller to grant her her freedom too?"_

 _I shook my head, "She wouldn't hear it after I told her my reason for getting close was only a mission," I tried to whisper the last part. I knew Zoe was gonna wanna know about Harley and what we're doing together. I honestly am ashamed of what I did in the beginning._

" _Honestly, Lawton," Flag began, "I don't really think it was ever fake for you."_

 _I nodded slowly, "I think you're right. How did June take it when you talked to her?"_

 _Flag chuckled slightly, "Well. I had a file I had made up about her life and the Enchantress. And, well, before I could actually tell her, she found the file,"_

 _I laughed a little at that too, "How'd you get past that?"_

" _Well," Flag started, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "She was really angry at first. I could tell it was a betrayal, but I convinced her that how I feel was genuine. Waller wanted to keep her here, in a cell like a criminal. But I fought back so she could have a somewhat normal life. That's what you did for Harley too."_

 _I shrugged, "I'm not really sure that's the same,"_

 _Flag nodded quickly, "Yes. Yes it is. The only difference is that I kept her free and you managed to help Harley become someone who deserves freedom and another shot at a normal life."_

 _I nodded, getting up slowly. "I think I should talk to her,"_

 _Flag nodded, stopping Zoe from following, offering to show her more of the prison, like the yard where my stuff is held._

Zoe woke up slightly, only to roll over and lay against an arm rest of the bench. I stretched some more, having better access of my limbs without Zoe on me. I saw a vending machine directly across from us and decided to check it out. Zoe had been following me around all day, sorta getting lost in the shuffle. She had to have been hungry. God knows I was. I walked over and got two bottles of water, two bags of chips, and a large chocolate chip cookie to split between us when she wakes up. As I reached down to get the food out of the vending machine's trap, I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the machine's window. I looked tired, like I had been rubbing my eyes to stay awake.

 _I rubbed my eyes once more, trying to wake myself up before walking into the infirmary. It had been about two hours since I confessed the mission to Harley, and about an hour since I talked to Flag. I had spent this time wandering around Belle Reve, taking it all in one last time._

 _I opened the door swiftly, to find Harley asleep in her hospital bed, clean bandages around her head once more, hopefully healing better now that she's asleep and at peace._

 _I found the chair next to her bed once more. I decided I wasn't going to stay till she awoke. I still manipulated her, no matter which way I'd try and spin it, but she should at least know she has her freedom._

" _Hey, Dollface." I whispered, stroking her hair softly. "You don't have to wake up, I just wanted to talk before I go." I took a deep breath, "I never meant for you to get hurt. You were alone down there and could've died. I'll always regret letting you go through facing J on your own." I let out another deep, shaky sigh. I'm not a pussy, but I could feel tears welling up anyways. "I told Waller from the get go that you had to be freed as well. That was the only way I'd do what she asked of me." Another deep breath, "I don't think it was ever fake on my part, if I'm honest. I think I've always felt something for you, since Midway. I just didn't know what it was till now. I-" another breath, "I love you Harley. And I'm very sorry," I pulled her file out of my inner prison shirt pocket and laid it on the bed next to her. "This belongs to you. I never should have read it. They gave it to me and. And I just wanted to understand you a little bit more. It was horrible, but the whole time, I wanted you to just be safe. I got up slowly, staring at her one last time before walking out to get Zoe. I saw her out of the corner of my eyes rolling over_

"Mr. Lawton!" a nurse chirped.

I spun on my heel, losing my reflection in the vending machine"s glass. "Yes! That-that's me," I probably sounded way too excited. No, that's not the word. Nervous? Yeah that's better.

"Miss Quinn is awake and responsive, she'll see you know,"

I ran my hands over my head, "Thanks," I looked over at Zoe, then back at the nurse. "Tell her I'll be in in a moment,"

The nurse nodded, smiling understandingly at me before walking back down the hall where she came from.

I lightly shook Zoe, "Sweetie, let's go see my friend. You can eat and nap in her room, okay?"

Her smiled up at me groggily, nodding slowly. She got up and followed me down the hall to Harley's room.

 _I was walking down the hall of Belle Reve. On my way back to get Zoe from Flag and check out of the prison. Hopefully for good._

" _Floyd!" the weak, raspy voice shocked me from my thoughts._

 _I spun on my heel, "Harley? What are you doing?" She was still attached to her IV, dragging it behind her roughly as she walked through the hall behind me, leaning against the wall for support._

 _I ran up to her quickly, stopping shortly as I made it to her. I didn't want to invade her space or make her feel like I thought she needed saving. She managed to stand up straight, no longer leaning against the wall._

" _I didn't stay here and refuse Mistah J for ya," she started. "Mistah J had it coming. Being in the squad helped me realize I can succeed without him. I'm more than Mistah J's property."_

 _I nodded slowly, about to speak, but she put her finger up, stopping me. "I didn't need you to show me I didn't need Mistah J anymore," her voice was firm, the teasing tone that's usually there was completely gone. "But," the edges of her lips twitching upwards just slightly, "I'm glad you did. And little birdy told me you had me freed in exchange for the Ice Queen wanted from ya," her eyebrow tilted upwards at me, eyes firey with passion once more._

" _I couldn't bring myself to leave without you," I admitted, feeling uneasy confessing my true thoughts when I knew for sure she'd be able to hear them._

 _She leaned off the wall, placing her hands on my face gently. "Flagy's sending me to a real hospital, to fix off my face." She winked as she shook her head, the loose strands of her hair flippy around adorably. "I was wondering if ya would come with me?" Her voice barely changed in tone to show she was asking me to come, not demanding I do._

 _I smiled, taking one of her hands and kissing the palm of it. "I'd follow you anywhere, Dollface."_

I walked down the hall, following the chipper nurse to Harley's room, Zoe's hand in mine like an iron clad. I looked down at her, letting out the first genuine smile in what felt like years.

"Daddy, do you love this lady?" She questioned, much to my surprise, not sounding hurt by the idea of me loving someone besides her mother.

I took a deep breath, though my smile hadn't faltered, "I think it's safe to say I do,"

She nodded, a slight smile tugging on the corner of her mouth.

"Are you coming back to Gotham, Daddy?" her voice seemed hopeful, but like she was trying to suppress it. I felt my heart drop slightly, but I wasn't surprised at her lack of confidence in me. Her father is a hitman of course, a hitman that went to prison too. I hadn't given her much to believe in lately. Ever, really. But this time, I was able to change that.

"I definitely am."

"No more working like before?"

I shook my head no. "Not with my daughter in the house,"  
"I can come too?" Zoe's soft brown eyes lit up with something I hadn't seen in her in awhile, delight.

"Of course, I'm even letting you design your own room," I added.

"Can Harley help?" Zoe chirped, "I love her hair,"

"Of course, Sugar Plum!" She was sitting up in bed, her arms stretched into a V above her head.

I had to laugh at that. "I guess you'll be an interior designer for us. Maybe a roommate too?"

Zoe clapped her hands together as she jumped up in down, smiling and squealing brightly.

Harley's eyes searched mine, first in confusion, then widening in delight. "You mean it?" Her voice barely above a whisper.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I replied, surprised I found my voice as I approached her, planting a kiss on her forehead. When I pulled away, I noticed there was a bandage on her left jawline. I don't remember J hitting her there. I tilted my head slightly. She seemed to notice my questioning stare.

"Oh! I got a tattoo removed!" She chirped.

"Rotten?" My lips twitched upward slightly.

"Yeah," she replied, mirroring my half smile. "I'm not rotten. Mistah J made me feel that way, but I don't think I ever was,"

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 **Next Story: "Domesticated," Harley and Floyd adjust to life outside of Belle Reve, back in the real world. While navigating through a newly committed and domesticated relationship. While doing this, Harley, Floyd, and Zoe become an unconventional family.**


End file.
